Love Transcends All
by Chlarkrocks
Summary: In the hunt for La Grenouille, Director Shepard, made a choice. Now that choice is going to cause the NCIS Major Crime Response Team to question everything they know. Has someone risen from the dead? How will it change Tony's and the rest of the team lives forever? Eventual Tate! Will include storylines from Season 5 and on!
1. Revelations

Pairings: Kate/Tony, Jeanne/Tony, Abby/McGee, Jenny/Gibbs, Ziva/ her canon pairings of Michael and Ray, some Kensi/Deeks (eventually), Nell/Eric (eventually), and slight Ziva/Tony (more in passing than anything).

Summary: In the hunt for La Grenouille, Director Shepard, made a choice. Now that choice is going to cause the NCIS Major Crime Team to question everything they know. Has someone risen from the dead?

**Author's Note:** Spoiler's up to 4x24, with the only change being that Kate wasn't shot in the head, but the bullet pierced her already weak Kevlar vest. So most of the major changes before 4th season have to do with Twilight and the Kill Ari Part 1 and 2. I love Tony and Ziva on the show together, but I would have loved to see what Kate and Tony could possibly have become if SA hadn't left the show. My story also emphasizes Kensi from NCIS: LA and the entire OSP to some extent. The one thing I do need to change to explain my story is that Callen and Sam have worked together for 7 years rather than the 5 as stated in 3x14 of NCIS: LA. Most of the chapters are episodes from the NCIS seasons with my added dialogue and something for Kate to do in that particular case. The rest of my chapters are of my own creation. The only thing I didn't like about the first two seasons of NCIS were some of Kate's clothing choices so when she returns in this fiction she will have better clothes.

Disclaimer: NCIS belongs to the wonderful writers and producers. I would never claim anything as my own!

* * *

Anthony DiNozzo Jr. is speechless. There aren't many times that he hasn't been able to give a snappy comeback or place a well timed movie reference into a conversation. Not only is he riding in a limousine with La Grenouille the international arms dealer, but the car has slowed and he can see the older man give a slight smirk as Tony's eyes narrow at the female who has been waiting at the corner in front of a rather fancy hotel. As the car slows Tony's mind is going over how he recognizes her, but because of her large sunglasses and the floral scarf wrapped around her head it is hard to tell. He knows for certain that it isn't the woman, whose luggage he had GPS tagged for the Director along with the other La Grenouille associate, the undercover CIA operative Trent Kort. He would be a liar if he said that he remembered every girl he ever saw, but there is something so familiar about this particular woman. As if he has more than a few distinct memories of her.

"I know I said we should go to breakfast so you could answer all of those questions, but there is someone I would like you both to meet," Rene Benoit gives them a smile and all Tony can read is that the older man is up to something.

"Jeanne, are you aware that this woman is like barely older than you," he hisses out under his breath.

"At least she's older than me," this woman is not known for being sarcastic, but he can clearly hear the bite in her voice. It actually makes a chuckle rise to his lips.

"Hello, my dear," the older man says as the woman gracefully gets into the limo.

"Rene," she says and even through the English accent, Tony finds something oddly familiar about that voice. The kiss each other's cheeks and Tony is shocked to notice that the woman doesn't settled in too closely to Rene. She is close to the door from which she had just got in. He seems to be trying to lean closer, but as she has crossed her legs ever so gracefully it almost makes a physical barrier between the two of them.

"On to our destination, Pierre," Rene says pushing the button to slide the partition down.

"Of course, sir," the man next to the driver says.

"Catherine, I'm so glad to you decided to join me on this excursion to D.C., especially since I've been extremely impatient to introduce you to Jeanne," the woman extends her hand to the doctor and he can tell how skeptical his girlfriend is. The doctor gives the woman an uneasy smile and because of the sunglasses, Tony can barely read the woman's expression. The smile that crosses the woman's face is so familiar as if he had seen it so many times.

"Jeanne, it is a pleasure to finally meet you, your father talks about constantly," with that the British woman removed her shades along with her head scarf. Tony had always been good at limiting his reaction, but seeing Caitlin 'Kate' Todd alive right in front of him is enough for his eyes to bulge like a cartoon. Kate gives him a slightly less surprised smile, but the shock is still evident in her beautiful hazel eyes. Her dark brown hair is replaced with a deep red tinted blonde. She looks as beautiful if not more than when he watched her being carried away on a stretcher to the hospital. He can barely see the movement that she makes, as she discreetly pushes a button her cell phone. Obviously she is sending Shepard a distress signal as well.

He had hid how much pain he was in after her death. He hid behind the prospect of possibly starting something with Ziva who he did have real attraction with, but even though he cares about her deeply, his feelings will never be more than that of lust. He cares for her as his co-worker and his friend, but that is all and sometimes he considers her like a little sister. He pretended Kate's death hadn't faze him, but after having her stay with him when he had been the only one infected with genetically altered Y pestis, he realized that his feelings had always been stronger than just friends or co-workers. Though they had both claimed to have more of a brother and sister relationship, they both knew that brothers and sisters didn't flirt the way they did. He had always wished that he had been able to tell her how he felt before she had gotten shot and faded away in his arms.

_Flashback_

_ Tony runs as fast as his legs could carry him. Gibbs had ordered him to search the other rooftops for evidence after the EMTs had carried Kate away. He is so angry at Gibbs for making him scour the crime scene for evidence that pointed to Ari as the one who had shot Kate even though they all know it was the rouge Mossad agent who had organized the terrorist attack. He doesn't know if he can handle being at the crime scene in the pouring down rain, while her life is in the balance. What if she dies and he isn't there. _

_ "Is she out of surgery!?" he asks through a rushed breath as he stops where Gibbs, McGee, and Abby are seated._

_ "They are still in there!" Gibbs says through gritted teeth. Abby's mascara is streaked down her cheeks and she is clutching tightly onto McGee's hand with tissues in the other. _

_ "That's good isn't it?" the question floats in the air unanswered because none of them know. _

_ "Where's Ducky?" he asks after a long moment as he collapses into the chair on the other side of Abby. He takes the scientist hand and gives her a sad smile._

_ "He's observing the surgery," he glances towards Gibbs through eyes that are now filled with tears. He isn't a person, who cries, but this was Kate, she is his partner._

_ "I found the casing on the rooftop, where we predicted Ari shot from. He didn't police his brass, boss," Tony tries not to sound angry, but he is because he should have been here incase anything bad happened. _

_ Tony glances around and there is absolutely no activity in this area of the hospital. He keeps his eyes trained on the clock and notices that it has been exactly four hours since Kate was shot on the rooftop and he wondered what was taking so damn long. _

_ After an hour of complete silence Tony is now pacing. All the thoughts seemed to be bouncing around in his head. All he knows is that he needed Kate to survive. He glances up when the doors opened and who he sees advancing towards them with tears in his eyes makes him stagger against the wall in almost pain. _

_ "Duck?" Gibbs asks finally as the tears fall from Tony's eyes. _

_ "She—didn't make it, Jethro," the Scottish man can barely get the words out and Tony can barely see anything as the tears start to fall and he collapses against the wall. _

"The pleasure is all mine, Catherine…" Jeanne trails off and Tony realizes that neither Kate nor Rene had said her last name.

"Doscher," Kate says with an obvious perfected English accent.

"And how do you know my father," Jeanne curt tone is enough to make Kate's smile lessen, though Kate sends her a look a keen to respect for making her anger known.

"Through a mutual acquaintance of ours," Tony watches the two of them and it is obvious that they aren't together even though the older man is obviously attracted to Kate. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth, thinking about the arms dealer even thinking of touching his ex-partner, who he had believed to be dead until this moment.

"It's a rather good story actually, but I believe I forgotten my manners. Catherine Doscher this Tony DiNardo the man has apparently stolen my daughter's heart," the French man says in an unsure tone as if not truly believing that he could make Jeanne fall in love with him.

"Nice to meet you, Tony," she gives him a soft smile and a nod. He leans over and grasps her hand firmly. He places a soft kiss on her offered hand and he can see out of the corner of his eye the look Jeanne gives him. He feels a surge of both familiarity and spark that he had only felt with Kate. The woman he had once trusted with his life and one who he use to tease, flirt, and bicker with endlessly.

"And you, Ka—Catherine," he is still shocked. He knows for sure now that his cover is blown. He had made the call to the Director less than ten minutes ago. They four sit in an uneasy silence not knowing what to say. Rene looks almost too calm and that is what worries him the most, it is like the calm before the storm. All of the undercover work he had been doing for the last eight months is going to blow up in his face.

Tony glances at the passing scenery and he can gage that they are now about four miles east of the hospital, which is still within the downtown area of D.C., but what alarms him is that they are relatively close the Navy Yard.

Tony flinches as the car turns onto the M St. and Tony knows that everything is about to come crashing down, right in front of his eyes. Kate looks calm even though he can see the recognition in her expression as she can see the street sign from the back of the car. He tries to keep his eyes off her and focus on Jeanne, who sits content at his side.

As the car turns right onto the street that leads into the Navy Yard, Tony tries to remain calm, but as the car turns left back towards the Metro area, his racing pulse slows. The drive about ten more blocks before they come upon the small city park that Tony recognizes as one he drives by everyday on his way into to work.

"Is this where we are eating?" Tony asks in a fake disbelieving tone.

"The restaurant is just past that park, I felt that today was a nice day for a walk," the smirk that the French man gives him sets even more warning bells off in his head. As the four exit the limo, he and Kate share a look that said they are both prepared to do anything if this is to blow up in their faces. He prays to god that she has a gun somewhere because the only thing he has if things went bad is his knife that was concealed in his belt.

Tony offers Jeanne a hand and they trail behind Kate and Mr. Benoit.

"We will catch up," he says as nonchalantly as possible. Kate's eyes narrow and he sends her a look of 'trust me', which she gives a discreet nod to. He figured the best thing is to end things on his own terms rather than how the arms dealer wants things to play out.

"Jeanne, I have something to tell you," he motions to the bench nearby and she gives him a curious look.

"Look, Tony I know my dad is a little intimidating, but he's just like that because he loves me," he gives he a soft smile at this wishing that was all it was.

"Jeanne, look, at me this is important. My name isn't Tony DiNardo it is Anthony DiNozzo. I'm a federal agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service," he knew those words were going to shock her, but her reaction is worse than he imagined.

"This has all been a lie. A lie," the woman utters in disbelief, but hadn't she been curious earlier when he had gotten off a shot perfectly and missed the druggie's ear on purpose.

"Jeanne, listen to me. Not all of it. Not everything. Just some things. Not the important things," he know how he feels about her, but he understands that they can never be together after this.

"Why? Just tell me why it is you'd do this? What it is I'm supposed to have done? Tell me. Tell me?" Tony tries to remain calm at the woman's tone.

"It's not you," he trains his eyes towards La Grenouille and Kate who are a good distance away on the path.

"What? What?" Jeanne shock is evident in her crystal clear blue eyes.

"You should ask him?" he throws his expression towards the gazebo where La Grenouille and Kate are.

"Why are you telling me this now?" she says standing from the bench.

"Catherine, isn't who she says she is," he knows she is going to jump to the wrong conclusion about that, but he says this anyway.

"So are you going to try and arrest her too?" her voice is now filled with an accusing attitude.

He shakes his head, "No, her name is Caitlin Todd. She is my ex-partner at NCIS and until the moment she got into the limousine, I thought she was dead."

"Is everything alright?" Benoit says sweeping in with Kate at his heels, she gives him a worried glance, wondering what he has done.

Jeanne just shakes her head and walks away not looking back at any of them.

"She will come back after she has calmed down," Tony is surprised to see the gentleness in the man's expression, he didn't believe that arms dealer was capable of such emotion, but it is obvious that the man loves his daughter very much.

"No she won't," he says shaking his head and places his face in his hands; he knows this is for the best, but he can't help, but wish there is some other way.

"Then I believe it is time for you, Agent DiNozzo to leave. You as well, Agent Todd, I have truly enjoyed your company and I must say you made a very convincing arms dealer. It took me longer to figure out who you were than Tony here, but I would guess it would have something to do with the fact that the whole world thought you were dead. Tell your Director that this was well played," the man gives an almost satisfied smile because he has won.

Kate doesn't even blink as he says these words and Tony can't even believe that Kate could be such an unmovable force, not showing any sign of emotion. Tony nods standing up from the bench he and Kate retreat back to the front of the park and towards the Navy Yard. He gives her a smile as he takes in her figure in the sunlight. He can't believe how much his heart had swelled at seeing her before his eyes.


	2. Official Return to NCIS

Seeing Tony for the first time in almost two years is enough to get her heart racing and for her memories of her time on Major Crime Response Team to rise to the surface of her mind. She always carried those memories with her every day, but right now they seem more vivid than ever as if they are passing right before her eyes. He is just as handsome, if not more so than the last time she had seen him. He had been the last thing she had seen before passing out from the pain of the second bullet wound of the day. She can't wait to see the rest of the team, but she first knows she has a lot explaining to do as she and Tony walk towards the Navy Yard in heavy ridden silence.

"Not, that I'm not excited to see you, Kate, but you are suppose to be dead!" Tony's voice almost seems to echo on the almost empty street.

"It wasn't my decision Tony. I was placed in Witness Protection for a few months even after they had gotten word that Ari had been killed. I immediately wanted to come back, but at the time Director Shepard had other plans. I was ordered by the Marshals and the Director not to contact you or any of the other team members for that matter. I started to write letters to all of you so many times, but I remembered I could be risking possible putting you in danger. Director Shepard needed time to gather Intel for the operation to catch La Grenouille and she assigned me to OSP for what I assumed was going to be a month to three tops. Three turned into ten and I got use to working at OSP, I was building myself a new life, albeit I was struggling with the concept. I was learning new skills and I was even made a Senior Field Agent, in charge of my very own Probie, a true firecracker, Kensi Blye. She fast became some I could rely and someone to this day I consider one of my best friends. Then the Director finally tasked me with infiltrating La Grenouille's operation. I was under deep cover with a identity so concrete, that it even went as far to explain, who my parents were and how I received the bullet wound to be chest," she says this and Tony's green eyes shine with utter betrayal.

"Kate, we all mourned you," his words cut through her heart like a knife. He takes off walking towards the Navy Yard at a faster pace and thankfully after years as both a Secret Service Agent and NCIS Agent she can run quite well in her heels.

"Tony!" he just continues to walk away from her even though she has caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Don't Kate," his actions don't reflect his words as he stops walking about 15 feet ahead of her halfway down the block. The pedestrian traffic has seemed to pick up and people give them curious glances as they pass by the pair. As he turns back towards her the mixed emotions are evident in his almost glassy eyes. As he steps forward, towards her, she isn't sure what to expect, she knows Tony would never hit a woman, but maybe he has decided she deserves a good yelling at. When his arms tighten around her in a tight embrace, she can't help the tears that form in her eyes. She has been especially trained to hide her emotions both by the Secret Service and most recently the NCIS OSP, but at this moment being in the arms of the man she had been falling for before having to fake her own death makes everything rise to the surface of her being.

"I've missed you so much, Katie," Kate can't help the smile that this brings to her face, even though she had hated it when he had called her that when they were working together it is nice to hear it now.

"I missed you, too, DiNozzo," as he lets go, she is surprised to see him take a long moment to look over her as if he is taking in everyday detail of the new her and she wonders if he likes the new her.

"You look good, Agent Todd," he gives her a classic Tony smile and her heart flutters in way that makes her feel slightly ashamed.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she sends him her brightest smile and the look that he gives her makes her wonder if he might feel something for her.

"Let's get back to NCIS before they get too worried," he wraps his arm around her shoulders and leads her towards the Navy Yard that she can now see just down the street.

"So just out of curiosity are they going to even let you back in there?" she rolls her eyes at his silly question, but she immediately remembers why she has missed him.

"I am a still a Special Agent and a Senior Field agent with NCIS, DiNozzo, did you lose your brain while I was gone?" she watches his hazel eyes flicker with delight and she knows that the two of them will be able to fall back into the old pattern of teasing each other.

"No, but as you have mentioned before my brain is all based around sex," she can barely resist the urge to roll her eyes as he shoots her an almost suave smile that has Anthony DiNozzo Jr. written all over it.

"Good to know some things never change," she snickers as they grow closer to the main Navy Yard gate. Looking at the buildings that she had once approached every day gives her a sense of nostalgia that she hasn't felt in a very long time.

The guard that lets them into the building tries not to look perplexed, but the man had worked here as long as she could remember so, the guy knows that she is suppose to be dead. As they ride the main elevator up to the third floor, Kate waits with baited breathe. Tony gives her a reassuring smile as the elevator dings and the doors slid open. Kate isn't surprised to see Director Shepard waiting for them directly in front of the elevator. She gives them both a nod and as they walk around the corner, she sees McGee, Gibbs, and Mossad Officer Ziva David. She has never seen such shock written on Leroy Jethro Gibbs' face as she does right now, as he looks in her direction. McGee looks like he can't even comprehend what is going on and she wonders if this is one of very few times that the MIT graduate has been truly confused. Ziva gives her a curious and surprised look, but her face holds the least evidence of surprise because they have never met, but she can tell from the recognition that the woman knows who she is.

"Kate!" Gibbs finally says after a long moment.

"Hey, Gibbs," she says as nonchalantly as possible, hoping this will allow him time to let the entire thing sink in.

"I don't understand," this time the silver haired man's statement is directed towards Jennifer Shepard.

"All will be explained in due time, Jethro, but I believe that there is a forensic scientist and a medical examiner who would like to see Agent Todd," she gives the director a smile. Even though the women had used her for her personal vendetta, Kate feels no resentment toward the older red head because the Director had guaranteed her, her original job back when the undercover operation was completed. She gives them each a smile and Tony gives her pat on the shoulder. Gibbs signals for the still slack jawed McGee to follow and they walk towards her. Ziva meanders for a moment before following behind the other two team members.

"Hey, Tim," she says finally walking towards him to give him a hug. Which for a second he doesn't return, but then he pulls her tight to him and she remembers how much she has missed the Junior Agent. He is like a little brother to her and she had come to miss his ability to always see the best in people.

"Kate, you're alive," he states through a heavy breath as he pulls away. Even though it had been two years he seems the same.

"Yep, McGee," she gives him her brightest smile as he grasps his hands for a long moment. As she lets go she is surprised when Gibbs gives her a hug. The man had never been one for hugs and showing how much he cared. She gives a surprised smile as she pulls away a long moment later.

"Hey, Caitlin Todd. Please call me, Kate. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Officer David," she offers her hand to the Israeli woman.

"Please call me Ziva and its nice to be able to meet the agent that they all have spoken so fondly about," as she shakes hands she is unsurprised to find that the woman's grip is firm and strong. The woman is Mossad after all.

"As much as I would like to go over pleasantries and have some chit chat. I really want to see, Abbs and Ducky," Gibbs gives her a smile and he seems to have finally processed the fact that she is really here.

"I believe it is time to give, Abby her Caf-Pow," Gibbs grabs the overly large red cup from his desk. It seems that some things never changed. They didn't have those on the West Coast and even though Kate has never been very fond of them, she would have loved to drink it just so she could feel close to her friend.

McGee gives a smirk and Ziva shakes her head with a small smile. Tony gives a mischievous look that she often saw when Tony was going to pull a prank on either her or McGee and the few times when he knew something she didn't, which admittedly wasn't very often.

They all walk towards the elevator in a silence that is filled with unasked questions.

Gibbs gives her look telling her and Tony to wait by the elevator and she knows she would never go against an order directly from Gibbs unless someone's life depended on it.

He, McGee, and Ziva walk into the lab and Kate listens and Tony gives her a warm smile that she eagerly returns. As he grips her hand she feels almost safe and that is not something she has come to associate with herself over the last two years away.

She can barely make out the voices, but she can tell that Abby is excited to receive her first Caf-Pow of the day and then she hears them discuss the La Grenouille case for a long moment, before Abby asks if they have found Tony yet.

Tony signals to come closer to the door and the both look around the corner into the lab where they can only see partially into the lab, all Kate can see is Gibbs who stands nearest to the door.

"Hey, Abby," she creeps in behind him as the black haired Goth embraces him.

"Tony, I'm so glad you are okay," Kate stands in the doorway smiling brightly watching her best friend dote over Tony.

"Don't I get a hug, Abbs," she asks after long moment. The forensic scientist gives a confused look. She watches as Abby lets go of Tony in shock and glances in her direction. The scientist looks between her and the team, trying to find some answers. Gibbs who has walked into the office part of the lab just gives her a shrug and a smile. McGee flashes Abby a bright smile and Ziva gives her a curt nod with a hint of a smile.

"Okay, Abby, you are scientist you know that is just a hallucination brought on by stress," Kate frowns ever so slightly, but walks towards the confused Abby.

"I'm real, Abbs," she says closing the space between them and she grasps Abby's arm warmer covered arms and it is almost like a shock to the scientist system.

"Kate?" she questions barely over a whisper. She rewards her friend with a nod and a smile then when she isn't prepared for it, Abby hugs her so tightly that she almost loses her balance. She sees Tony and Ziva laughing and she notices Gibbs on the phone in Abby's office watching the scene with a smile.

"KATE!" the voice now portrays happy shock.

"Can't breathe," she sputters out and she wonders if Abby has gotten stronger over the last two years because the woman had her in a death grip.

"Oh, sorry," the dark haired woman gives a nervous chuckle.

"It's okay, sweetie," Kate places a hand on the woman's pale cheek with a smile.

"May, I mention how much I like the blonde hair," Kate laughs because she has never really liked it because it made her feel less like herself, but she knows that is the point. She is glad that she didn't have to wear the blue colored contacts that the Director had asked to her wear during the undercover operation because she wouldn't look like herself at all anymore.

"Sorry, disappoint you, but it's going back to my original color once everything is sorted out with the case and my _official_ return to NCIS," Abby gives a confused look that she directs towards everyone in the room. Tony just gives a soft smile and Ziva just stands there with a stoic expression. Gibbs gives a shrug and then a soft smile as he enters back into the room through the sliding glass door.

"Jethro, what was so urgent that I…" she turns towards the Scottish man and he gives her a confused smile.

"Caitlin, is that really you?" she gives him a nod and he looks beyond bewildered.

"Hey, Ducky," the man's face holds a perplexed expression that goes beyond any she had ever seen on his face.

"I watched you die during surgery," his wonder is different than the others because it defies all of his medical knowledge.

"I can't explain to you what you saw, but I was put into Witness Protection while recovering from surgery," he gives a confused look, but a smile rises to his lips as he reaches to embrace her.

"I've missed you, my dear," the older man gives her a bright smile and he gives her a hug which she returns.

"Now, that we've gone through the reintroductions, I want to know how the hell any of this is possible and what any of this has to do with La Grenouille!" Kate can't believe how nice it is to hear Gibbs' forceful tone.

"I will explain, but I believe that the Director should also be present to help elaborate the parts that I was not read in on," Gibbs nods, but she can see clearly that he is angry about Shepard having not told him about the extent of the La Grenouille case.

They all file into the conference room and Jenny Shepard looks more apprehensive than Kate has ever seen her. Kate watches as Gibbs slams the conference room door almost hard enough to take the hinges off the door. She doesn't know that much about their relationship, but she knows that they were partners a long time ago and she has a feeling that Gibbs might still have strong feelings for the woman who was now the Director. She would venture to guess it has something to do with Paris.

"How could you keep this from me, Jenny!" this alarms everyone in the room because Gibbs voice is so loud it almost makes the wall shake.

"If you would just calm down, Jethro, so I can explain," the woman gives him a forceful look that actual makes the Supervisory Agent sit in a chair with a huff.

"Putting Agent Todd in Witness Protection was a decision that was jointly made between me and Director Marrow. I kept in constant contact with the Marshals and they and I decided that it was in everyone's best interest that Agent Todd remain dead in the eyes of those closest to her in case members of the terrorist organization ever caught wind of her being alive. When I was sure enough time had passed I set up Agent Todd working in the L.A. field office and even though I should I have let her come back after those ten months, I knew that she was best fit for the undercover operation because who would believe she was an undercover agent when she was dead and her death was so widely publicized. With my connections overseas I was able to establish an arms ring for Agent Todd to infiltrate and then she went to work gaining many of the other foreign arms dealers trust and after she sold a very good shipment to one of La Grenouille's associates. He was ready to meet her," The Director gives her a look to continue.

"That was five months ago and ever since I met with him he seemed to believe that we would do well to work together. I had my in, but the problem was I hadn't established enough of a connection to the Navy or the Marines to call in Interpol and make an arrest for NCIS. So I bade my time while Rene kept trying to make advances on me. I never got any concrete evidence on him before he asked me to go D.C. to meet Jeanne. I knew I should have called Director Shepard to warn her, but I wasn't aware how deep Tony's cover was or that I was going to meet him," she states to everyone.

"I knew he was up to something when we left the hospital, but I would have never expected that. He forced me in a way to reveal who I was to Jeanne because I was afraid what the end result was if I didn't choose to act in that very moment," the Director gives a nod.

Gibbs gets up and leaves the room without another word and slams the door just as hard.

"Agent DiNozzo, I understand and I applaud your efforts and I'm glad nothing happened," Tony sends Jenny an appreciative nod.

Jenny gives a huff before turning to her, "Well Agent Todd besides receiving your case notes and final write up, you are officially starting today are reassigned to the MCRT. Though this team is officially on standby until next Monday. I believe that should be long enough for you Agent Todd to sort out things in L.A. and be ready for work here in D.C." Kate gives her a nod.

She glances back towards the rest of the team and they each have different looks of surprise.

"If you would please agents, Miss Scuito, and Dr. Mallard, Agent Todd and I need a few moments alone," she watches as the team exit the room. Tony throws her one last glance as he shuts the conference room door.

"I know this wasn't how we expect this operation to end, but Agent Todd you did extraordinary work and I could not be more pleased. You went above and beyond the call of duty and for that there is nothing I can ever do to repay you. As for your return to MCRT I need to be clear on a few points. In order for you to return to that particular position I need two things from you," Kate's eyes narrow and for the first time Kate is worried about the short haired woman across from her.

"In order for you to return to the MCRT, I'm going to need you to remain as an active agent of OSP so if there is ever a case or emergency I can have you fill in when it is needed. The second thing is more of a statement than a request, don't let Jethro intimidate you, you are a Senior Field agent and have just as much pull as Agent DiNozzo," she gives the woman a smile and the woman places a heavy packed envelope in front of her.

"There are all you I.D's if you give me 48 hours your bank accounts and pension fund will back up and running again. You don't have to worry about anything , NCIS will pay for the trip to L.A., the shipment of your things from the storage unit. There are few pieces of paperwork that need to be sorted out at OSP with Agent Macy," she gives the Director a smile and pulls the full page envelope toward her.

"Now, get out of here and go be with the people who have missed you the past two years," she gives the red head director a smile before getting up from her chair at the far end of the conference table. She walks down the hallway with a satisfied and she will even admit she kind of missed the orange walls of the NCIS main office.

As she turns the corner Tony, McGee, Ducky, Ziva, and Abby are waiting for her by the stairs leading down into the squad room. She gives them each a smile. They all seem to be looking behind her and she turns to notice the Director giving them a smile.

"I think its best that you all go home and get some rest because there is nothing more that we can do about La Grenouille case today," they all give her a nod before heading down the stairs to the squad room.

They all opt to go to the coffee shop nearby because it is too early for a drink. She spends the next couple hours listening to the team members recount some of the important cases and funniest moments of the past two years. Tony and Ziva recount the case where they had to pretend to be a married couple. Kate can't help a twinge of jealousy at how much Tony's eyes twinkled as he recounts his side. Tony and Abby recount the case about how the lab tech that had been assigned to work under Abby had framed Tony for murder. Kate listens intently as Ziva, McGee, and Ducky all added little anecdotes. McGee reluctantly recounts the case where he believed he had shot a cop. Tony and Ziva recount the case that had them trapped in a shipping container for hours. They also recount the case where Tony had to be in charge because Gibbs let himself be taken hostage by a high school boy whose mom had faked her own death after testifying against a major war lord in South America. Abby goes on to explain about the case where they had a set up crime scene and someone was after her. It turned out to be the guy who she was testifying against. They also recount the case where Director Shepard was kidnapped and the only way the captor would only give her back was if they released his brother who had died while in Ziva's custody. It had also brought Cassie Yates back for a visit. Kate had actual heard about that one as it was pretty big news to the other division of NCIS. Kate had also heard about the bomb which had almost killed Gibbs and left him with no memory of the last fifteen years. The team went on to explain that they hadn't been able to stop the ship Cape Fear from being blown up. Kate cracks a smile as Ziva and McGee complain about the months when Tony led the team. Kate laughs along with all of the funny stories and Kate laughs when McGee recounts the case where the Navy Lieutenant that had a complete plan for her life and a morphing program to figure out what her kids would look like with potential suitors and how they had entered in Gibbs and the Director to see what their grown up child would look like. They talk about the case of the Marine who was blown up on the Army Navy Golf course that brought Colonel Mann into the picture. Kate gives a chuckle at learning that Gibbs was attracted to the Army CID agent. Tony starts to tell her about the case where they had met McGee's sister who they then believed had murdered a seamen. McGee becomes annoyed, but tells her that he knew his sister didn't do it even if she hadn't remembered at the time. They talk about the case which brought back Colonel Mann as the team had to catch the same terrorist who had gotten a bio-toxin to release into the air. They also talk about the case of the exploding crypts that led them to catch a pair of serial killers working as a team. Tony takes a sharp intake of breath and from his expression she can tell someone close to them has died. McGee and Ziva start to recount the case that had left Agent Cassidy and her team dead. Kate gives Tony a sad smile and he gave her a nod of thanks. McGee sadly recounts the case that had links to the first draft of his new novel that had hints to real people in it, which ended up with the delusional fan going after Abby because he believed that her character was going to kill McGee's character because he had rejected her.

The part ways after lunch and Abby insists Kate stay with her until she leaves for L.A. Kate gladly accepts and takes her friend's arm as she leads her back to the Navy Yard and they drive back to Abby's apartment in her hearse.

After arriving at Abby's apartment they spend a couple hours talking about what is different in Abby's life.

Kate settles onto Abby's couch and gives a smile at the darkened space that she was in even though all the lights are on. Abby's apartment is exactly the same as it had been two years ago.

"Comfortable?" the other woman asks as she walks back into the room, Kate tries not to chuckle at the woman's fluffy pajamas that kind of doesn't go with her daytime wardrobe.

"Yeah, thanks Abbs," she says at black haired woman took a seat down next to her.

"So… I'm not sure what to ask, I have so many questions, Kate," the woman gives her a look of pure overwhelmed.

"Whatever you want to know I'll try my best to answer," Kate says gripping the pale hands of the scientist. She knows there are a lot of questions she can't answer because of the confidential nature of the information that she now holds in her head. Sure, she'd had a lot of that when she first joined NCIS because of the Secret Service, but she feels like she understands more of the covert side of the government now.

"Like I said I don't even know where to start. Just tell me about what you have been doing for the last two years," Kate hesitates to get into that because there is a lot she can't tell her about her time in Witness protection and her time working in L.A. She takes a long moment and realizes that she can tell Abby the bare minimum of details and she hopes that will help ease the curiosity that she knows the black haired woman feels.

"Well, what can I tell you is that after I recovered from surgery enough to be moved I was transferred to Annapolis where I underwent a major bout of intense physical therapy and then when I was healed I was escorted by the Marshals to L.A. and when I arrived they took me to directly to the boatshed, a place that the L.A. office uses as meeting place with outside law enforcement and an interrogation room. When I arrived Director Shepard and Special Agent Lara Macy— Operations Manager for the Office of Special Projects— were waiting for me. The director told me that Gibbs had shot and killed Ari, but there were still some loose ends to tie up and because of the covert operations that the L.A. office my identity would be safe. The Director told me that she was giving me a sort of promotion and then she handed me badge back and told me that I was now a Senior Field Agent and I would be in charge of my very own Probie. She and I would go through a round of field training that would last three weeks. When I first met Kensi Blye I was sure she was going to be as green as McGee when I first met him, but I learned pretty fast that Kensi Blye doesn't take crap from anyone and she knew exactly what she was getting herself into. By the time I met she already knew how to read lips and spoke three different languages and that was two years ago she has learned two more since then. We were taught by a former FBI SWAT member the art of long range shooting and then I got brushed up on my use of assault rifles. Then we had some very intense training that I can't tell you about because it's classified before working our first case for OSP. We went through a period where she would do everything to patronize me, but as we go into the rhythm we actually found that we liked each other and she grew to respect and listen to my orders. Though to this day Kensi claims that she is a better sniper than me, though we have faced off so many times, it is obvious that I'm better. I grew to trust her as much as I trust you, Ducky, Gibbs, Tony, and McGee. We were in a lot of tight spots in L.A. more than I ever was in here," Kate says all of this and the scientist stays quite the entire way through listening intently.

"So what were some of your cases?" Abby asks with a look of excitement and cheer. Kate has a sneaking suspicions it is because OSP is kind of like the Bigfoot of NCIS; unless you are privy to the information it seems like it doesn't exist.

"I'm sorry, Abbs, but I can't tell you because even though we have worked on cases in the Pentagon most of the cases go way above the team's security clearance," the look of pure shock on Abby's face makes her laugh.

"One of these days I'm going to get it out of you. You be sure of that," Abby says poking at her ribs and Kate reacts almost instantaneously by grabbing the woman's wrist.

"Oh, I don't think so Abby, I am a highly trained federal agent," she states with a twinkle in her eyes and the other woman starts to crack up and Kate joins her in her laughter, but she doesn't understand what is so funny about that statement even though she had said it to be humorous.

"What are you going to start calling yourself very Special Agent Caitlin Todd?" Abby asks through chuckles.

Kate starts to laugh harder at this statement and feels so free as she lets the laughter over take her being. For some reason this moment spent with Abby laughing is rather cathartic and she feels lighter than she has in almost two years.

"I deserve that title more than, DiNozzo," she thoroughly giggles.

As their laughter stops, Kate watches Abby's eyes narrow and Kate wonders what the woman is going to say next, "Well at least you don't use that line to pick up chicks."

"You never know, Abbs," she says with a chuckle not really meaning it.

"Have you been holding out on me, Kate Todd?" Abby eyes widen.

"I was just kidding, Abby," the woman gives her a smile and a shrug.

"Well, if you haven't been picking up any chicks lately. Did you at least meet someone in L.A.?" Kate knows that this was coming; she is surprised it took the forensic scientist this long to bring it up.

She just shakes her head no and hopes that Abby will leave it at that, but no such luck, "Really Kate you are a hot woman, why didn't you go out there and find a nice rich California man?"

"Well, here is the thing Abbs, I knew that I wasn't going to be sticking around L.A very long," she is so glad that she has been trained to be such a good liar because even though that is true, she is lying by omission, she would never tell Abby that she couldn't hold onto to hope that she would meet the right guy when she was pretty sure she already had and he thought she was dead.

"Sure, whatever you say," Abby knows her too well for that statement to hold any weight, but she is thankful when the forensic expert doesn't press anymore.

"So tell me more about OSP because until this morning I thought it was just an urban myth that the agents just talked about like it was bigfoot," Kate totally understands why many don't think it exists because they have a very small group of agents and everything they do is classified.

"Well mainly OSP is about long term surveillance and undercover operations that often are very delicate. We handle a lot of high risk cases and some that involve long extended undercover ops, but mostly we solve cases that are assigned by SECNAV or the director that are often pertinent to national security or involve a very high level Naval or Marine Officer," Abby nods curling her feet under her.

"So you said that your partner was named Kensi, but you couldn't have been the only agents working there from what it sounds like," Kate gives a smile and gets even more comfortable as she prepares to tell Abby about her second team.

"Well besides Kensi there are two other full time agents that work at OSP as partners, both are Senior Field Agents. Special Agent G. Callen is the supervising agent below Mace, he is kind of an enigma like Gibbs, I never known quite what he's think, but I do trust him with my life. His partner Sam Hanna is a retired Navy Seal who is built like a truck, but has a heart of gold. We have one rotating agent Mike Renko who is always put on extended undercover operations and who I know has a thing for Kensi, but she doesn't return his feelings, what so ever. OSP also has an operational psychologist Nate Gentz, who is an excellent shrink and a really nice guy, but I would so prefer for him to not be in my head. We also have a Tech Operator named Eric Beale that I'm pretty sure you would love considering your attraction to geeky guys who like computers," she gives Abby a smirk and the woman gives her a raised eyebrow about the Eric comment.

"Oh, really," Abby looks interested now.

"Yeah he may is no McGee, but Eric is an awesome guy and if he weren't 3000 miles away I would say you should go out with him," Abby's eyes narrow at saying he is no McGee because no matter what the other woman thought, Kate can't get the thought that those two would eventually figure it out even though Abby seemed to be the one who had put the brakes on when he asked whether they were in a relationship way back when she first started working at NCIS.

"Kate, I was referring more to the fact that you think all I like is techie dudes," Kate gives a chuckle knowing that Abby isn't that one dimensional, but it did seem to be her type because she would always have something to talk to them about.

"I'm just teasing, I know that to have at least one tattoo for them to be good enough to sleep in the coffin," Kate says throwing her thumb back towards the bedroom, grabbing Abby's hand with a laugh. She can't stop the laughter at the look of annoyance that crosses the woman's face.

Abby gives her a slap on the arm and then her eyes narrow in fake annoyance, "So this how you want to play it, huh? You may be able to kill someone without leaving a signal trace, but I'm the one has been specially trained to protect the president," she quickly attacks with the speed of a striking snake and grips the scientist by her upper arms and quickly twisting so she has the upper arms and the uses that leverage to turn Abby so she is able to hold the girl against her body on the sofa and the wraps her right arm around her neck and if she were to just tighten her grip the other woman would be dead in just over twenty seconds.

"Yo, blondie you have go to teach me that move," Abby says after a moment and Kate releases her arm from the woman's arm and neck.

"That's nothing," Kate says crawling out from behind Abby with a smirk.

Abby gave her an impressed nod before saying, "Just imagine if Tony, McGee, Ducky, or Gibbs had walked in," she says with a laugh as Kate fixes her loose ponytail so her hair doesn't have any leftover strands hanging out.

"I'm sure Tony would have some crude comment at the ready and McGee would probably just stumble over his words. I picture Gibbs just giving a raised eyebrow and walking away. Ducky would probably come up something it reminded him of and start into some story about a time long ago," she says the last part with her British accent that is closest to a Scottish accent. Abby once again gives her an impressed look at her accent. The woman hadn't gotten the chance to see it in action like Tony did this morning.

"I'm so glad you are back, Kate things around here haven't been the same while you've been gone. Even though I like Ziva she isn't exactly warm and we don't have things to talk about," Kate gives the woman a sad smile and leans back on the sofa.

Tony drives almost aimlessly as he does everything to try and clear his head. He doesn't know which is worse finding out that a woman he trusted had faked her own death or having to tell the woman he believe he loved the truth about who he really is. He wouldn't have had to tell Jeanne if La Grenouille hadn't set them up. He hates the bastard now even though meeting the man made him reassess all the things he had learned. What shocked him was finding out that the man did truly love his daughter. That much was made very clear.

He is so worried that when he closes his eyes tonight that everything that had happened today would be just a dream and Kate wouldn't have walked back into his life after two years in which he though she was dead.

He looks around at the lit street as he pulls his car into a spot. He looks around and notices that there is something rather familiar about where he is and as he looks around he notices that subconsciously he had brought himself to Abby's apartment where Kate is staying. Even though he knows it is going to be almost impossible to see anything through Abby's black curtains, but for some reasoning being here caused him to let out a deep calm breath.

He chooses the easy way out and lets that once hidden anger boil to the surface of his being as he pushes down those unwanted feelings that have been rising in his chest all day. He knows he has missed Kate and that he had grieved her death albeit completely in private and he had used humor to defuse the sorrow that he had felt during the first few months.

Kate Todd is someone who betrayed him someone who shouldn't matter to him, but he knows that she means something to him. Probably more than he would ever care to admit and he knows that the only reason he can even think that is because of who he has grown into in the wake of her supposed death.


	3. LA and OSP

**Author's Note: I'm sorry to all my faithful readers! I didn't abandon the story, I just got caught up on later chapters and finding my ending. Most of the chapters right after this one are done so they will be posted in next few weeks. This chapter is all from Kate's POV, the next few chapters will focus back on Tony and be about a case. Please Read & Review! Thank you!**

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LA and OSP

It is eight in the evening the following day after receiving a ticket and some paperwork and a rider for her gun Kate went straight to Dulles to wait for her plane that left at three in the afternoon. She has to remember to have the Special Agent in London ship back the remaining of her things that had found their residence in Catherine Doscher's loft. Kate walks out of the gateway and gives a bright smile when she sees the curly haired brunette standing waiting for her. She knows there is some benefit to being an armed federal agent and this is one of those times.

"Hey, Kens," the brunette gives her a strange look and she realizes she has yet to change her hair back to her natural color.

"Kate," she gives a smile and she meets the slightly taller woman for a hug and she chuckles at the woman's unruly curly hair which falls over her eyes as they hug.

"So, you call me out of the blue. So your deep cover must be over, but how long are you here?" as they walk through the crowds, Kate has never felt this relaxed in a long time.

"Just a few days to finalize some things at OSP, so I can return to my position on the MCRT and then I need to prepare all my things in storage to be shipped back to D.C." she sees the sad smile that passes over the face of her former Probie.

"So, if your only here for a few days then you are staying with me," Kate just nods, but she is imagining what she could possibly trip on in Kensi's over cramped apartment that has so much stuff that often times it took Kate more than five minutes to get through the apartment in fear that she would fall because of some article of clothing.

"I see that look, Todd, I cleaned my apartment specifically because of you," she raises her eyebrow.

She gives her friend a smile and follows her towards the exit.

"Any bags?" Kate shakes her head and Kensi doesn't look at all surprised as Kate shifts the medium size bag on her left shoulder to indicate that is all that she had brought.

Kate gives a laugh as they get in the Mercedes that Kensi must have checked out from the OSP garage.

"So where to first, OSP or the storage unit?" Kensi asks starting the black cars engine.

"OSP, my assault and sniper rifle are still in lock up and I'm sure Mace wants to go over details about the fact that I'm still staying on as an OSP agent even though my permanent assignment is at the Navy Yard," Kensi gives a nod and Kate can see that the woman is thankful that she is going to be able to have at least one other female field agent on the team.

"So, how was it seeing all of you friends again after two years?" the woman asks and Kate grips the handle on the passenger side of the car as Kensi weaves in and out of traffic.

"Jeez, Kens, are you trying to make me sick?" the younger woman gives a laugh and eases off the accelerator and stays in the left lane instead of weaving in and out as to pass people going ninety miles an hour.

"Sorry, I haven't had a partner in a while and I'm always speeding after Callen and Sam by myself," Kate gives a chuckle as she takes in the city lights of Los Angeles.

"Well, I don't think there is any rush because Mace doesn't leave until at least after ten," Kate says with a chuckle as Kensi quickly merges onto 110 going North towards downtown and towards the warehouse district where building that housed OSP is.

"Yeah, that woman needs to get a life," Kensi says and Kate just chuckles knowing that her twenty four year old former partner isn't any better.

"Says the agent who sits around her apartment writing her operations reports on the weekends," Kensi gives her a glare even though Kate know she only does that to make herself look better to their Operations Manager.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kensi says with a smile.

"Meet anyone lately?" she asks this time she is being serious, but she won't be surprised if the woman evades her question.

"It is kind of hard to meet a guy when you have to lie the entire time," Kate gives her a sad smile. Though she knows her old partner's hesitance had more to do with Jack and him leaving her on Christmas than anything else. Kate makes one promise to herself that if she ever finds the guy he will no longer exist on this earth and they would have nothing to pin it on her.

"Why do you think I didn't date while I was here?" Kensi gives her a raised eyebrow and now she is sure she doesn't want to know why the other woman is going to say in response.

"I thought it had more to do with being in love with your old partner?"

"You," she asks with a laugh.

"No, Very Special Agent DiNozzo," she gives the younger woman a glare as she gets off on an exit into downtown L.A.

"You mean the very annoying sexist pig, who is pissed at me right now? Besides a distinctly remember saying I had feelings for him, not that I was in love with him," Kensi laughs this time at the statement.

"Well, you really don't think he has reason to be upset? And it was kind of obvious, Cat," Kate nods at the point the woman makes about Tony being upset, but decides to ignore the woman's point about her feelings being obvious.

"He is the only one other than Gibbs that is angry. He was so sweet yesterday when he found out, but before I left today he was as cold as ice and let's just say that Tony isn't exactly the best at hiding when he's angry," Kate scoffs as Kensi turns the car towards the more industrial part of L.A., and after a long moment Kate gives a smile as the old brick building that is camouflaged to look like just another empty warehouse rather than headquarters of the covert branch of NCIS.

As Kensi pulls into the alley, Kate gives a smile as the other woman punches in the code to garage. All is silent as they get out of the car and Kate glances as the walk the familiar path to the old elevator.

"It isn't any different," Kate says with a laugh as the elevator loudly arrives on the second floor and the walk through the hallway to the door into the Ops. room.

"Well, we have some nicer tech stuff, but Eric would have to explain it to you because even after listening to him talk about it for half an hour I still don't get it," chuckles at this because she doesn't find this at all surprising.

"I've worked with Eric, McGee, and Abby and I still don't understand half of what they say about computers, I just know that it helps catch the bad guys," Kensi gives a chuckle as she enters in pass code into the main room of OSP. Kate would not be the first person to say that the OSP center's main room is kind of bleak with its grey walls and banks of computers that mirror MTAC except for the fact that the screen and computers are more advanced than MTAC. Kate follows Kensi along the upper walkway until they are in the main hallway of the office. Kate gives Kensi a nod and she alone walks to Mace's office while Kensi turns to head back to what use to be their shared office. Kate lets a soft smile fill her lips as she knocks lightly on the door jamb of the Operation Manager's office. The door is open which is something that she had gotten use to while working at OSP. The lighter blonde looks up at her and gives her a soft smile that reveals absolutely nothing.

"Hey, Mace," she says entering more into the office and into the light.

Her former boss sets down the pen and gets up from her desk and Kate wonders what Lara is going to do and Kate barely has time to process the woman's movements when the blonde embraces her in a hug. She returns it with a surprised laugh and as they pull away the woman takes a moment to look over her features.

"Well I see you survived the European Arms Dealers," Lara says with a laugh.

"I came out stronger and with better clothes," she says and this receives a chuckle as the older woman lets go.

"So now that you are done with your undercover operation, I'm guessing you are here to formally tender your resignation and transfer back to the Navy Yard," the woman walks back to sit behind her desk. Kate quickly takes her seat across from the more experienced NCIS agent.

"You haven't received a memo from Director Shepard?" the woman purses her lips and shakes her head not understanding the statement.

"In order to sanction my return to the Navy Yard and ultimately to the MCRT, I'm to remain an OSP agent ready to report to L.A., when the need arises," the woman once again takes a moment to process the words, but Kate can tell the older agent understand perfectly what that means. The woman across from her simply nods and gives a small smile.

"Well, I guess that makes the paperwork, I was going to give a little lighter," the woman grabs for a thick stack of paperwork before thumbing through it. Taking certain packets out of paper out of the stack, Mace hands her it after it is a third of the original size.

"That's all of the paperwork I'm going to need you to fill out," Mace says with a grin.

"I just want to say thanks, Lara, for everything, you let me be a part of this team without a lot of questions and I learned a lot from you," the woman gives her a serious look before leaning farther over her desk and interlacing her fingers together.

"I think you are a great agent and that was clear from the get go. I know you were only here for less than a year, but it felt like you were truly a part of this team and even though no one more than me will be sad to see you go, D.C. is where you belong and you and I both know it is what you want," the woman offers her hand and Kate gladly accepts her compliments with a heavy heart.

"Thank you so much, Lara," she says letting go of the woman's hand.

"Here is the key for the locker with your guns in it?" she says sliding a small silver key across the wood desk.

"The armory code is the same as it always has been," Kate nods and gets up. She turns one last time sending the woman a smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mace. Hopefully by then all these papers will be filled out and I will have gone through my storage unit and sorted through everything," the woman gives her a nod.

"Feel free to take Agent Blye with you. We don't have any pending cases right now and I know you love telling her what to do," Kate gives a chuckle before throwing the woman one last glance as she heads down the hallway back to the two other offices which are shared between the four agents.

Kate softly leans on the door frame as she stops at Callen and Sam's shared office.

Kate sends Callen a soft smile as he glances up at her from his desk. He is wearing his classic gray colored t-shirt and jeans.

"Well, look at you, Todd," the buzz cut haired man face shines with a smile that leaves little room for her to figure out exactly what he is thinking even though she knows his happiness is genuine.

"Hey, G, how are you doing?" she has always felt weird calling him by the single letter. She has always wondered what it stood for, but she has never dwelled on it because she knows that it worries him more than anyone else. She can't even imagine not knowing anything about yourself, not even your first name.

"Same, old, same old," he says and Kate knows exactly what she is going to ask next.

"So how many times have you moved since I went undercover?" she inquires with a chuckle.

He lets out a laugh and she can already tell that she has asked the right question. He leans back in his chair before saying, "Well, according to Sam as of last week it was eight, but I only remember seven and let me tell you I have better memory than Sam does." She advances farther into the office and takes a seat at one of the chairs in between the two desks.

"G, it was totally eight because you were staying in the long term motel in Santa Monica when Todd left for England," Kate turns and smiles at the huge bulking agent in the doorway. He is in a black square stitched long sleeve shirt that Kate has seen him wear at least a dozen times. It is one of about ten that he has in different colors. He also often wears skin tight workout shirts.

"Besides I have a better memory than you," Kate gives him a bright smile. She chuckles at his statement.

"I must say Kate that you look pretty good for narrowly escaping one of the most revered arms dealers of our day and age," Kate laughs at his over dramatic statement.

"Well, you can only imagine, how far my charm can get me," she says bringing a hand to her chin.

"You, charm never," he retorts.

"I guess it was my beauty then," she says and G sends Sam a 'she's right' look.

"So, how long are you back for, Todd?" these two men aren't easy to fool, so she isn't surprised that they already know that this is just a trip and not her returning for good.

"Two, three days tops, I just have to sort out moving my stuff back to D.C. and filling out some paperwork for Mace."

"So does that mean we can at least take you out for a drink to catch up before you run back to the capital?" Callen sends her an encouraging smile.

"I would love to," she sends him a smile in return and wonders why she couldn't have feelings for him because he is a good man. Though she also remembers how guarded the man is and she realizes that honesty is a trait she would want in a relationship.

"Well, what are we waiting for lets go grab Kens and hit the town," Kate gives a nod. She notices that they hadn't said anything about Eric or Nate, but she assumes that that psychologist and tech operator have things going on or rather Eric is playing _Halo _and Nate is catching up on looking over case files or is doing research.

"I need to go get my rifles out of lock up and then we can head out, why don't you boys go rile up Kensi and decide where we are going?" they nod and she heads back out into the hallway and after entering into the main hallway away from the Ops center she hangs a left away from Mace's office to the armory. She takes a look around the brick building and she knows she will miss it even though she hasn't been here in over a year.

The room is as cold and unyielding as it has always been with it caged guns and countertops and drawers. There is almost something clinical in nature about it, but she can't help, but smile at the room. Kate gives a long look around at the armory and closes her eyes for a moment taking in the memories that she has of being in here. She remembers the many different times that she and Kensi stood side by side getting ready for an operation or preparing to take down a suspect along with Callen and Sam. She remembers their conversations here and there about the case of the week or joking after a successfully op before going to grab a drink. She also remembers the first time she had admit out loud that she had feelings for Tony and Kensi had in a matter of fact way stated that she had known that since the first time she had talked about the team.

_Flashback _

_Kate clicks the left lock hinge up and she slowly eases the case for her assault rifle open. She carefully places the gun back in its spot after taking out the clip which is still half full with bullets. She lets out a long breath because she is tired. She, Kensi, Sam and Callen had spent the last four hours interrogating the different members of the Byrne gang. She smiles as she realizes she has some old photos stuffed in the top of the case. She pulls the stack of photos out and smiles when she sees some of her favorite memories of working for MCRT. The first picture is from her first Christmas working at the Navy Yard. It features her, Tony, Abby, and Ducky all raising a glass to celebrate the merriment. She runs a finger over Tony and then Abby's face. Two months, that is how long she has been working at OSP. It has been almost five months to the day since the day of the shooting and even though she often has nightmares about it, she feels better knowing that Gibbs had shot Ari and the whole ordeal is over. She is also able to look back on that day and know that they had done everything in their power to stop Ari and his Hamas cell before they could blow up Norfolk and the arriving USS Kennedy and the families wait for their arriving loved ones. _

_"Reminiscing, Kate?" she glances up at her 22 year old partner and she shrugs. She doesn't really want to go there with the younger woman right now._

_"I just noticed all of the photos I had shoved in here," Kate says getting up with the photos still in hand as she closes the case and slides the locked drawer closed. _

_"Is there any specific reason they were in there?" she knows that she can lie to Kensi, but she also knows that the woman can tell if she is fibbing. So she knows it is best to tell her a partial truth. _

_"Just somewhere to keep them safe," what Kate doesn't tell her is that she had put them in her assault rifle case because she didn't want to look at them and be reminded of what she left behind._

_Kensi picks up the picture that she had placed on the metal table._

_"So that is Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo?"Kensi chuckles at her repeating the overly egotistical moniker that Tony had made up for himself. _

_"Yep, he is almost as good looking as he thinks he is," Kate receives a raised eyebrow from the recent college graduate and Kate can see the mirth in her expression obviously because of the cynical and sarcastic nature of her statement. _

_"Though I would never tell him because there would be no room left for anything, but him and his ego," this receives a snort from the Portuguese woman._

_"They way that you talk about all of them it is as if…they are your family," Kate nods because what the brunette in front of her is saying is more true than she cares to admit. _

_"Yeah, in some ways they are. If you spend enough time with someone they take a piece of you without you even realizing it and you carry a piece of them with you wherever you go no matter how much distance is put between you. Abby always knew how to put a smile on my face no matter how dark things seem to get because no matter what you see here in this picture she is one of the happiest people I know and her antics are always so childlike, but wise in their own way. Ducky always has the way of remembering some long story that honestly has almost nothing to do with what is going on and you can't help, but smile because he has such vivid memories of all the amazing things that he has witnessed. Tim took so much crap from Tony and I and I know he is still going to, but he has the makings of a good agent and he is a good guy and he was like the little brother I never had, I mean come on, I was the youngest of five so it was nice to have someone to pick on. Gibbs he is harsh, but underneath all that Marine and Special Agent is a kind man, I learned so much from him and even though his rules are sometimes ridiculous I will stick to them because most of them have helped me become a pretty good agent," Kate can't help the fact that her eyes glisten with unshed tears that she knows she will make sure never fall. _

_ "And Tony?" she glances up at the young woman and she is rewarded with an undisguised smirk and Kate glares at her and in return her probie just gives her a cocked eyebrow filled with amusement. The good thing about the other woman's humor filled question is that it had made the tears that built up in her eyes dissipate. _

_"He is the most sexist pig I know and he can without fail make anything into a movie reference. He is also the most egotistical man I know and he is always talking about the expensive clothes that he has bought or about the latest bimbo he had a one night stand with. He also without fail manages to say something so irritating that it takes everything in me to not shoot him and the only reason I don't do it is because it would just be more paperwork," Kate notices Kensi slightly titled head and she can tell that the other agent wants to say something, but doesn't._

_"But most of all I could have loved him, god and do you have any idea how stupid that makes me feel because he is Tony, for god sake. The man who told people that I tried to sleep with him when we were away on a mission in Paraguay or that I had breast implants."_

_"He sounds like a real piece of work, but I could tell from the first time you told me about the team that you had feelings for him. It was that gleam in your eye," this makes Kate blink and god she is pissed at herself for letting that much out and letting herself be vulnerable like that especially when she is trying to establish a trust with this young agent so they can work together. _

_"I'm sorry for getting all mushy on you," Kate feels instantly better when her partner just shakes her head and gives her a smile and returns to putting away her gear._

_"Its okay, Kate, it is nice to know that you would trust me with something as personal as that," she gives the young woman a smile and feels good about how things are developing in their partnership. _

Kate follows the rest of the team into the dive bar that they use to grab drinks at every once in a while.

"Dan, get this woman anything she wants," Callen says to the bartender. The guy had always been nice to her and he gives her a surprised smile at her appearance.

"Hey Dan," she says taking her seat in between G and Kensi.

"Haven't seen you in a while," she gives the young bartender a smile, he had always been a really nice guy.

"Yeah, I got reassigned and am just back for a few days to clear up some stuff," the bartender thinks that they work for a national non-profit.

"Well, you guys help safe lives it doesn't really matter where you are, right?" the four of them share a knowing smile.

"Well, thanks for that, can I have a dirty martini," he nods and begins to mix the drink before turning to engage the rest of her companions.

"So what can I get the rest of you?" Sam and Callen quickly answer that they want beers as does Kensi.

They take a seat in a booth and Kate can see that the three fellow agents have questions about her undercover op trying to get to La Grenouille.

"So let me get this straight you spent the last year getting to live it up in London while we have been taking down bad guys and stopping the world from mass destruction?" she loves Sam's over exaggeration.

"I was working. You, know how it is. A full on undercover operation that requires your full and utter attention and never letting yourself slip," she knows if anyone understands it is Sam and Callen who have both down undercover work that has been longer than six months.

"So let me get this straight, you can't even tell us what the assignment was about?" she can see how skeptical Callen is especially since he is technically the Special Agent in charge of special projects working directly under Mace. All they know is that she had popped up in D.C. in the company of Rene Benoit.

"No, I am on strict orders by Director Shepard to keep it under wraps," the man nods and she can tell that he is going to ask Mace about it, but she knows that Lara can't tell him anything.

"So at least tell me this, did you complete the mission?" she shrugs and Callen gives her a smirk knowing that she will never tell him and he will never know whether she did or not.

"So, enough about me, tell me about some of the cases I missed," she sees a smile rise on Sam's lips and she can tell that he has a good story that probably ends with Callen falling flat on his ass.

She knows that will keep them distracted from asking about her undercover op. and she knows she is in for some good stories because Sam and Callen have a way of interpreting the events of a takedown differently especially who had been the one to actually detain the suspect.

As she listens to them talk about the different cases Kate is surprised by just how much she has missed each of them and their own unique humor and their way of focusing in on what would normally be minuscule details just because they ended in some funny anecdote that often involved one of them doing something completely ridiculous or being revealed to be undercover. Hearing about Kensi having to go undercover at a strip club had made her day especially since she ended up falling off the pole.

Two hours and a few drinks later Kate walks over the threshold into Kensi's apartment that she is shocked to find clean. Kensi is the Merriam-Webster English Dictionary definition of hoarder. She has stakes upon stakes of magazines that she had never read and would never get around to and clothes that she hadn't worn sense high school. Instead Kate can clearly see that the floor is actually hard wood or at the very least laminate.

"Wow, you actually have a floor," Kate chuckles setting her bag down the small couch that she is sure she might fall off in the middle of the night because it is barely two feet wide.

"It does happen every once in a while," Kensi says with a shrug.

"Yeah, once in every millennium," this receives a glare from the California native as Kensi walks into her kitchen obviously in search of either water or tequila which generally had been their choice of poison when they wanted to get completely smashed or drown out the horrors of the day or days past.

When the young woman lifts the bottle of Patron into view Kate nods a smile feeling her face.

"It happens more than you think."

"Name once in the last year that I have been gone where this place has been what anyone other than you would consider clean?" Kate knows that she has the woman basically dead to rights about her lack of cleanliness.

"Just one drink, Kens, I have things to do tomorrow," the woman nods and puts the cork back in the glass bottle.

"Yeah, I know," Kate bites back her words about the fact that Kensi sounds almost sad. She knows that the younger agent is like her little sister, but she doesn't want the woman to make her feel bad about having to leave again.

The woman gives her a smile as she advances towards her and takes a seat next to her offering her one of the glasses in her hands which she takes gladly.

"To new or— old beginnings," Kate gives a curt nod and clinks the tumbler against the other brunette's.

"How about to life and its surprises," her former probie stares at her in disbelief as if she has said something unheard of.

"That sounds rather optimistic even for you, Kate, what is going on?" She has always been optimistic, but she had always curbed that in the presence of Callen, Sam, and Kensi as to not be perceived as weak.

"Nothing…" she knows that is the stupidest thing she could say.

"I don't believe you. You are trained liar for god's sake and you couldn't come up with something better than nothing," Kate covers her eyes annoyed with herself for not being specific enough when she just tried to lie.

Kate in turn rolls her eyes before expressing something that she has been trying to keep buried because she knows in some ways that it will hurt the Portuguese woman, "I just feel like I can breathe again, it is like I'm not waiting for the other shoe to drop anymore and it feels like I can life again."

"It is because you can," Kate knows that it is true, but if she is being honest it is kind of scary.

"Yeah," she leaves it at that letting the silence take up the space between them as she sips her drink remembering all of the good memories that she had made in this city. She would soon be leaving L.A. and all of its wonder and the focus it brought to her life, but she knows that she is okay with that. After a few minutes of silence Kensi bids her good night after giving her a blanket and pillow for the couch.

Kate turns the key in the lock and lifts the handle up and opens one of the heavy doors even though she never considered herself a material person it is amazing how many of items help define who she is as a person.

"Wow, I had no idea you had this much stuff, Kate, I mean you call me a pack rat," Kate turns to the junior field agent and gives her an annoyed huff as she walks the few feet into the storage unit and looks at the writing scribbled on the first box.

"So what exactly to you need me for?" Kate just chuckles because she really doesn't need that much help since all she has to do is sort through the boxes and call the movers.

"Nothing really I just thought you would want to spend some time with me before I go back to D.C."

"So what does Mace think I'm doing with you exactly?" Kate just shrugs in response.

"Mace told me to bring you with me," the 24 year old smirks, but tilts her head obviously interested in why their by the book Operations Manager would allow her to help Kate pack up her things.

"So, seriously where did all of this stuff come from because I don't remember half of this stuff ever being in your apartment?"

"Most of it is stuff that I had in D.C. and I guess I just didn't want to include everything from there into my entire new life in L.A. especially since it would just make me miss it more," she can tell that her words have stopped whatever Kensi was going to say from leaving her lips. She knows that her words like many before are probably going to have been used to tease her.

Kate swings the keys in her hands and finds the other key that is exactly the same to the one that opened this storage unit.

Kate smiles when she opens the heavy door and chuckles at the silver car which she knows she can't drive in D.C. because it is technically an OSP car.

"We actually had to use the BMW in one of the cases a couple months ago," Kate could only imagine.

"Oh, don't look so horrified. We didn't hurt your, baby," she hopes her roll of the eyes will get it across to Kensi that it really is just a car, she isn't Sam for god sake with his love for Dodge Challengers.

"So, no high speed chases to speak of?"

"I didn't say that," the shorter brunette knows that the taller one is just playing with her.

"So, you dressed up as some upper middle class housewife didn't you?" when the young girl looks down this time she just laughs.

"Please tell me there are pictures," the woman she shakes her head and Kate just laughs as she steps out of the storage locker and walks the few feet to the one that has all of her personal belongings in.

"Afternoon, I'm here to pick up the contents of units 380 and 381 for shipment to Washington D.C for Caitlin Todd, including a BMW which is to be shipped to the Johnson Storage Yard in Fredrick, Maryland," she nods and the man smiles.

"My men and I should have this done in …" the man looks over the contents of the storage unit before continuing, "half an hour, ma'am."

"Is there a specific order that you want this packed into the truck, ma'am," she thinks about it and in truth it hadn't been that organized to begin with.

"There is no order, just pack them up, thank you," the man gives her a nod and she and Kensi watch the movers take away the boxes.

"Well that's kind of the end of the era," Kate says as she watches the movers load the last of the boxes into the moving truck.

"Think of it this way, Cat, you finally get to just be," she can hear the underlying envy in Kensi's tone and Kate really wants to reassure her, but she knows that Kensi is still struggling with the decision to become a member of OSP and hide what she really does from the people most important in her life.

"I know, Kens," Kate knows not to say anymore than that because she doesn't want to make Kensi feel any worse about choosing to live her life in the shadow of what she does. Having to always pretend to be something else than what she truly is, an undercover federal agent.

She hands the keys to the head of the moving company and less than ten minutes later Kate has signed all of the paper work and she and Kensi are speeding down the road towards the old warehouse district where OSP is.

Kate walks through the hallway of OSP slowly and she takes a moment to remember some of her more fond memories. She knows this place and the people within had taught her so much and she would forever be grateful to them. She will miss them, but she also knows that she will be back and they won't lose contact even if they didn't, but it truly is the end of a part of her journey as an NCIS agent.

She pauses for a moment before entering Mace's office and she is unsurprised to see Mace is looking over some paperwork.

"All done," she says and the blonde woman smiles and nods.

"You know you could stay a few days longer and do some tactical training with team," Kate shrugs and she can't help, but wonder if the woman might actually miss her.

"I would normally say yes, but I was hoping to go see my parents before having to go back to work on Monday," when the woman nods Kate knows that if there is anyone who understands being close to their parents it is Lara Macy.

Kate offers her hand to the woman and she crosses around the desk and returns the hand shake.

"Now go get out of here before I change my mind and order you to stay," Kate gives a smile and shakes her head.

"See you soon, Mace," the older woman smiles.

"You too, Kate," Kate gives one final nod before walking out the door and towards the Ops. Center.

She is suspicious when she walks in and it is almost quiet. She also notices that Eric seems to be doing something other than looking up information or running through surveillance cameras. Now she knows something is off because the ops screen is blank except for the NCIS, Navy, and Marine seals because there is always some operation going on that requires surveillance. She is also kind of wondering where Kensi is since the woman said she would wait for her here why she talked to Mace.

Eric glances towards her and gives her a smile and she walks down the ramp towards him.

"Slow day, Eric?" the man gives a shrug.

"Not bad I just helped Renko to identify his target," Kate nods and glances over the tech operator's shoulder at his individual screen. The genius glances over at her and gives her that look that tells her whatever he was just helping Renko with is need-to-know.

"Sorry," the man shakes his head signaling that he understands and he turns his chair around and gives her a smile.

"So are you excited about going back to the Navy Yard?" she shrugs because honestly there is more than one emotion attached with the prospect of returning to her old team and the capital.

"There you are, Todd," Kate glances away from the tech operator to the ex-Navy Seal who stands leaning over the railing.

"Where else would I be?" Sam gives a chuckle realizing that what she is saying is true.

"Hey get in here everybody," the man says before whistling and Kate perks up at this now knowing something is up.

After a moment all of the OSP employees that are not currently in Ops file in with Kensi, Mace, and Callen bring up the rear.

She chuckles when she notices the plastic cups in Kensi's hands and the bottle of champagne in Callen's.

She gives a warm smile at the familiar faces of some of the other people she had worked with on a daily basis. As they begin to pass around cups with champagne Kate knows she is going to get teary eyed especially since Callen looks ready to give a speech.

"It takes a special kind of person to do what we do and Kate is one of those people, she is an incredible agent and even better human being, we will miss having you around. To Kate Todd. You will always be a part of this team," Kate gives a smile to the room and to Callen she gives an appreciative nod as she raises her glass with the rest of the room before taking a sip.

"You take care now, Todd," she gives Sam a smile as he pulls her in for a hug.

"I will, Hanna," she gives him a punch in the arm and the man flashes his pearly whites at her.

"Eric," she says and the tech operator who is wearing a Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts pulls her into a hug.

"I'll miss you, Kate," she had come to love the guy and all of his computer talk and his love of surfing.

"You, too."

"Callen," she says extending her hand to the supervising agent and in turn he grasps her hand and pulls her into a hug.

"Don't forget about us when you are back on the East Coast."

"I won't. I'll miss you, G," when he pulls back he gives a nod that signals that he will miss her too.

She spends a few more minutes interacting with some of the other people that work at OSP before she glances up at the end clock which indicates the time for here in L.A.

"Ready to go, Kate?" she nods to Kensi and she gives one final small to all in the room

Kate climbs into the car and gives a sideways glance back at the door into OSP and for some reason even though she knows that she will be back soon, it still feels like she is leaving a family behind and a part of herself. She found out a lot of things about herself while here that she knows she will take with her when she goes back to D.C. that have made her a better person and agent.

Kate embraces Kensi and when she lets go she seems the gleam in the woman eyes and Kate's eyes widen because she has never seen Kensi almost reduced to tears except for when Jack had left and honestly that had been over a webcam that she had seen that.

"You take care, probie, don't let Callen and Sam take you for granted or force you to wear anything ridiculous to go undercover," the curly haired woman laughs at this.

"I will. Bye, Kate," she nods and gives the woman a soft smile before pulling her into a hug.

"Bye, Kens," she says after a moment. She gives the woman a soft smile before making her way towards security.

Kate takes her seat and she is annoyed that she is stuck with the middle seat in coach on this flight back, but the flight is almost already loaded with any luck there won't be anyone seated in the aisle seat and she can take that one.

Even though Kate wants to close her eyes and make the time spent on the plane shorter she takes the opportunity to people watch for a moment and she sees a man that bears a striking resemblance to Tony walk down the tight aisle way of the 737 obviously look for his seat and Kate's heart falls not because the guy passes her, but because of how angry Tony had been when she had left headquarter yesterday. He had been so quiet and that worried her about his anger more than anything else. If he had at least been vocal than at the very least she could use words to defend herself or at the very least do something to hopefully earn his forgiveness.

_Flashback _

_It is just after noon and Kate exits the elevator and she isn't surprised to see the bullpen on the third floor abuzz with activity, but the squad room is empty except for Tony. As she takes the few steps towards the squad room she is surprised in some ways and others not at the very obvious dark circles under Tony's eyes. _

_"Oh it is you," she knows she deserves the anger, but she isn't sure what had changed since yesterday and she wonders if the man is angry about having his hand forced in regards to Jeanne. She knows him well enough to know that his feelings were real. His glare makes her heart fall and the fact that it is so icy makes her wonder if his kindness from yesterday had turned to a hatred that could possibly not be remedied. Her heart breaks a little in her chest as she throws one final glance towards him as he stares long and hard at his computer screen. _

_She decides not to respond beyond a nod and she wonders how long he is going to be like this. The silent treatment from Gibbs is one thing, but she really did need her friends and for some reason feeling the resentment and anger from Tony felt worse because she had always felt that even though they didn't always like each other they trusted each other. She also knows no matter how much she doesn't want to admit her feelings for him is what is making this so much harder. _

_She knocks on the door softly and she hears Director Shepard's assistant tell her to come in. She is surprised when the outer office is empty accept for the secretary. Under normal circumstances she would think that there would be at least one other person waiting to talk or meet with the head of a federal agency. _

_"Go on in, Agent Todd the Director has been expecting you," she gives the woman a thankful nod before _

_ "Afternoon, Director," she after shutting the door. _

_"Afternoon, Kate," the red head woman says looking up from her paperwork and pulling off her reading glasses. _

_"You wanted to see me?"_

_"Yes, I had Cynthia make all of the arrangements for your trip to L.A. you are on the 3:30 flight out of Dulles and the return ticket is open ended for any time before next Monday. There is information on the movers in the folder and you waivers for your guns because it will take a week for your things to arrive from L.A. I have already talked with the Agent Burrows and he and his team will retrieve your things from your condo in London," Kate gives a shocked glance, but she takes in a seat in the chair across from the once partner of Gibbs. _

_"You didn't have to do all of this, I could have easily taken care of this," she says after accepting the folder with the information._

_"Kate, listen me, you are one of my top agents and after everything that you have done it is the least I can do," Kate gives a shake of the head, but a thankful smile fills her features._

_"Thank you, Director—" the woman gives a shake of the head and_

_"It is, Jenny," Kate gives her a nod and she can't explain why this is so weird for her because she was on a first name basis with Bush when she worked the protection detail._

_"Well thank you, Jenny," she says and she glances _

_"I better be going if I want to catch my flight," the red headed woman nods and she gets up from the chair. _

_"Tell Agent Macy to keep up the good work," Kate nods and gives a smile before ducking her head and leaving the Shepard's office. _

_Kate takes a long moment to look at herself in the mirror and she can't help, but wonder who the stranger in the mirror is. She knows she only feels like this because she is finally home. She squints her eyes as she runs a finger over the crease of her right eye and she is willing to admit that she looks older and that even though the wrinkles are subtle they are there. As she looks at herself she realizes this it is true, experience ages a person. Sometimes she wonders how much she has aged on the inside because even though she had always been sure of herself now she felt like her confidence is at a different level even though in some ways she feel more uneasy with where she is in life then she was when she first joined NCIS after leaving the Secret Service. _

_She enters the squad room and she glances around for a moment because all the desks are empty and she wonders just for a moment where she is going to be even if she is on this team. She wonders if they really will take her back with open and arms and as she turns her head she is met with hazel eyes that send more rage than she ever thought possible from a happy go lucky guy like Tony. _

_"Tony?" she asks and when he turns away from her and walks away she lets out a sigh and pulls away the sadness that she feels in her chest and she forces herself to focus on going to L.A. and seeing her friends there. She is also glad to know that they will hold no ill feelings towards her. She can't help, but feel that at least he isn't indifferent because that would mean he doesn't care at all. _

It takes all of her to not start an out loud mantra of 'just breathe, just breathe, Kate.' She glances around at the other travelers and she wonders if any of them are going home. This brings a smile a to Kate's lips and even though Tony's anger is weighing heavily on her mind and heart she remembers that she gets to return to the life that she was forced leave behind and she knows not many people can say that and she gets to start by seeing her parents and family for the first time in over two years. 


	4. For All the World to See, Part I

**Sorry for taking so long to update! I got caught up with writing material for much farther along in the story! This is a three part Chapter and the rating for the story will go up for the remainder of the story with the posting of the second part of this chapter!**

**Please Review, I feel like I haven't gotten any feedback since I posted the first two chapters!**

* * *

For All the World to See, Part I

It is now a week after La Grenouille had disappeared and his car had blown up in the Monroe University parking lot. Tony walks back into the bullpen on the third floor and smiles when he sees Kate seated at the desk that has been squeezed in between his and McGee's. Gibbs had ordered maintenance to take out the end partition so they could move McGee's desk farther back. This is the first time he has seen her with her dark chocolate hair—which is at touch lighter than he remembers— since she has been back and even though she had looked absolutely stunning with the blonde hair, she looks more like the woman he had known as she sits typing away at the computer and it makes a bright smile form on his lips. He notes her bright red top and the fact that her hair is done in tight spiral curls that are half pulled back. He immediately recognizes that even on the outside she is different than when she "left". He knows he had been a jerk to her the day she left to go to L.A., but that was because he had been still recovering from his anger about her lying to him. He has now gotten over it and is ready to be her friend and fellow team member.

"Kate, are you trying to make me look bad? I came in extra early because it's been a week since I was out in the field, but you have to have set a new record. How long have you been here?" she just gives a shrug and he glances at the clock the reads a few minutes after seven.

"I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, DiNozzo, I have been gone for almost two years," Tony gives her a sad smile as he walks farther into the squad room.

"Better get started then," he says with a chuckle walking behind his desk and watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Don't you see what I'm doing," he gives her a smile before turning on his computer and shakes his head. He can't get over how good it is to have her back. He is interested to see what the dynamic is going to be like with all five of them working as a team along with Ducky, Palmer, and Abby.

He is surprised to see that she has completely ignored his rude behavior from the week before, but he assumes that she just wants to jump right back into things without anymore drama than necessary. He sits down at his desk and starts types away at his computer. An hour and a half later Ziva comes in with her pack on her back looking ready for action.

"Anxious are we, _Ziva_?" he says emphasizing her first name by rolling the z and emphasizing the v and a.

"What would make you think that, Tony?" Kate laughs in the background and Ziva sends her a smile.

"What have you been up to?" Tony asks glancing between the two of them.

"I finally found a suitable apartment and am still in the process of finding some furniture, I'm stuck sleeping on the floor until I find what I need," Tony gives a smile as he pictures Kate giving a huff about sleeping on the floor. He notes she does look well rested though.

Ziva responds with a rather Ziva like statement, "Whatever I did this week is none of your business and you would be the absolute last person I would tell." Tony looks between the two women and when Kate gives Ziva nod of approval he knows he is in for it.

"If you two are done fighting, get you gear, we have a dead Navy Captain. Where the hell is McGee?" Kate nods grabbing her newly reassembled backpack, NCIS fleece jacket, and hat. When she places the hat on her head he feels warmth spread through his heart at seeing her looking like a true NCIS agent again.

"Gas the truck," he catches the keys just as Gibbs throws them and McGee appears around the corner getting off the elevator. Gibbs gives him a look and the junior agent a glare and the man gets back into the elevator as they follow.

"Who's the victim?" McGee asks as they all stare up at the building after passing under the crime scene tape that had been set up as to stop rubberneckers from getting any closer than the sidewalk. Though those gathered around the tape are still getting a good view of the body that is hang out of an open window half way up the building. From down here it is obvious that the man is in civvies instead of being dressed in Services Whites or any other naval uniform.

"Captain John Donahue," says the male Metro detective who walks towards them having ducked under the crime scene. He is slim built, tall and has perfectly quaffed hair blonde hair. He gives them a nod and he takes a long moment to look at Kate and Ziva. So the man obviously likes brunettes. Though Tony thinks the man would have to be blind to not notice the two of them.

"Who discovered him, detective?" the man gives them a look of 'seriously' as Gibbs says this and the man has a point.

"Detective Tom Morrison, you must be Agent Gibbs," Gibbs in turn gives the detective his annoyed 'obviously' expression that Tony has gotten more times than he can count. He is sure that the count is right up there with the amount of times he has been head slapped.

"Agent DiNozzo, Todd, McGee, and Officer David," they each take their turn nodding at their introduction.

"He was discovered by one of the security guards around 4:30 am," McGee quickly scribbles that down on his notepad and Tony takes a long moment to try and commit this fact to memory.

"There is typically no traffic around this part of town after about 2 and until 4," they take this in each with a nod of understanding.

"What about the traffic cameras a block down?" McGee asks and Tony turns towards where the man is pointing and marvels, albeit silently, that the junior agent had seen that.

"There are two cameras, only problem is one is pointed to pick up people running reds and at the crosswalk, so other than possibly catching the Captain driving here you aren't going to get much," Tony bites his tongue as to not say anything about the man's assumption that this is suicide especially since this is a very public way to go out.

"I'm willing to hand jurisdiction over to NCIS, one less body for us to handle," Gibbs nods and walks up the steps towards the building without another word.

"Thank you, Detective Morrison," Tony notices the man's eyes linger on Kate after she says this and she flashes her pearly white teeth at the man, a flicker of interest in her eyes. Tony hopes to god that they don't need help on this one because of that obvious attraction between Morrison and Kate.

"Give me a call if you need anything, Agent Todd," the man hands his card towards Kate and Tony decides to cut off this little interaction.

"Thank you, detective, I think we have got it from here," he snatches the card from the man and gives an eyebrow raise before turning away. As he and Kate walk towards the others the woman gives him a warning look. As soon as he is turned away from her he lets a smirk fill his lips.

"How are we going to get to the body?" Tony asks as they all stare up at the almost twenty story building. The Naval Officer is hanging from an open window on the tenth floor. His body hangs from between the tenth and ninth floor.

"Carefully, DiNozzo!" Tony cringes as Gibb's head slap connects with the back of his head. It is too early in the morning to endure anymore head slaps so Tony decides to be on his best behavior. He hears the soft snicker from Kate and when he turns back to look at her, she just shrugs.

"Gibbs, I can rappel off the floor above to the body and collect possible evidence before Ducky has to remove the body," Ziva says and Tony watches as Gibbs considers it.

"Have a lone enough rope, David?" Tony thinks that is a reasonable question, but the Israeli woman just nods before rolling her eyes at him.

She nods and Tony is surprised when Kate speaks up, "Gibbs, I can also do it."

"Both of you go," he says and Tony watches in surprises as the two women walks calmly to the truck to retrieve ropes and some climbing gear.

"McGee, take a sketch from down here and interview the witnesses that Metro are holding onto and then join DiNozzo and I in the interior crime scene."

Twenty minutes later after going over the crime scene and taking photos Tony looks around surprised by how untouched it is up here. Tony's eyes widened as he sees Kate and Ziva working away at the outside glass hoping for possible fingerprints to determine if the officer was dead or alive before he went out the window.

"How are you two doing out there?" Tony says poking his head out the window. He notes that the civvies the man is wearing are gym clothes, a gray Navy shirt, a pair of dark blue sweatpants and simple white sneakers.

"Fine, Tony," the both say curtly at the same time and he chuckles as they exchange raised eyebrows in amusement. When the two women smile at each other, he worries he might not survive very long with two very strong willed women who both are out to get him.

He sticks his head out farther and shifts so he was away from the body, but towards Kate, who is to his right.

"So, where did you learn to do that because I frankly remember Gibbs having to push you off the lift and I had to promise catch you?" he gives her a smirk at the last part.

"There are a lot of things, I've learned DiNozzo," she winks and Tony can't help the heat that surges through is body as he thinks of all the sexual things that could entail.

"God, mind out of the gutter, Tony," she says and Tony is waiting for a whack in the legs because she can't exactly elbow him in the ribs from her position hanging from the side of a building below him.

"Got everything out there, David and Todd?" Tony steps away from the window so Gibbs can talk to the two women below.

"There are no prints on the glass out here and now that I've seen the body I can make a sketch of the orientation of things outside," Gibbs gives a satisfied nod.

"Ladies, if you would so kindly help me with the body," the medical examiner scoots around him to also lean out the window.

"Of course Ducky," the two women grab the Captain by the legs and push him up to Ducky and the elderly man grabs him perfectly.

"Jimmy if you would pull please," the Scottish man ushered his geeky medical assistant towards where the rope is tied to the ledge.

The assistant pulls the rope and after a moment the two women push the body up so the two men can grab it ever so carefully as to not disturb any physical evidence that has yet to be collected. Tony laughs because the Autopsy Gremlin looks ridiculously weak as he tries to pull the body in with the help of the two women.

"What have you got, Duck?"

"I have just been introduced to the Captain would you give me a moment," Gibbs gives a hesitant nod and Ducky continues his examination. Gibbs shrugs and walks away while Tony continues to take pictures.

"Time of death was between 2300 and 030 at night. There is obvious petechial hemorrhaging in the eyes which indicates that he died of asphyxiation," Tony glances around at the empty room and he wonders if they will find anything of value other than possible shoe prints. So far it is looking like suicide.

"That's almost six hours before he was discovered, boss," the man nods at Tony's statement. It's a long time for the body to go unnoticed, but it is possible that if this isn't a suicide that some waited to hang the body.

"Did he hang himself, Duck?"

"I can't be sure until I get him back to a more respectable place. Hopefully the Captain can give me some much needed answers. This reminds me of a reenactment I saw in London in the late '60's of the old gallows that the British use to use…" Tony tunes Ducky out after this as he begins his sketch of the interior crime scene.

Tony glances up from his sketch pad when Ziva and Kate walk into the room. They both look around obviously looking for something out of place, but there is nothing because the room is empty except for them and the body which Ducky is still looking over with Palmer.

They process the rest of the scene and collect some trace evidence, but there is very little as the office they are standing in is empty and up until recently had been used for storage according to the quivering secretary who had worked just outside this particular office.

Two hours later they are back at the Navy Yard and all trace evidence has been sent down to Abby and, Ducky and Palmer are busy at work starting the autopsy.

"Have we determined why the Captain was even at this particular building and floor?" Kate looks up from her computer screen.

"So, boss, the entire 20 floors are divided into ten separate businesses. Nine take up 2 floors each. The tenth floor is the bottom level of a private investment firm and they have looked through their records extensively and found no immediate connections to Captain Donahue. I sent a list of immediate and extended relatives, but that is going to come back as a dead end," Kate waits for Gibbs to walk around the desk and head slap Tony.

"Nothing is a dead end until all the facts are back, DiNozzo," Kate just smirks and he narrows his eyes at her in a glare.

"Got anything from his bank records, McGee?" Tony turns to McGee as Gibbs leans over the youngest agent.

"He's got very little purchases for being back in the states for the last week and a half; it seems that the wife has been doing all the shopping," Gibbs gives a nod.

"Kate, what do you have regarding his naval career?"

She gets up from her desk and grabs the remote and pulls the service record up on the plasma near Gibbs' desk. "He joined the Navy in 1980 at the age of 18. He specialized in Intelligence as the three levels of Petty Officer. He then went into Officer training at the Naval Academy and became an Ensign at age 26. He was an ensign for three years before being promoted to Junior Grade Lieutenant. And so on and so forth, he was made Captain of his own ship just a year ago. His Commanding Officer, Rear Admiral Davidson, had nothing, but good things to say and said that within ten years Donahue could have been an Admiral. All I can say he was the boy scout of the Navy. Gibbs he has a clean service record and a ton of commendations. There isn't even one incident report in almost 30 years of service," he gives her nod.

"Did he have any competitions for those ranks?" asks Ziva and Kate goes back to her desk to check.

"I'll compile a list, but as I said before there isn't one incident on record," Tony can tell that it doesn't bode well for their investigation if they can't seem to dig up a motive as well as a suspect if this turns out to not be suicide.

"From what I've seen of his record it seems unlikely that he committed suicide, but it is still possible, Gibbs. Though I have known many people who have been able to hide their depression from even their closest family members or spouses," the silver haired man grumbles at Kate's assessment.

"They wife has been informed and she is waiting for any update. She told me she last saw her husband around 2130 when he went to the gym," Tony adds with a grimace at having to talk to the grieving widow briefly on the phone.

"I contacted the gym and faxed over a photo of Captain Donahue. They confirmed that he was there from 2200 to 2300. His car is still in their lot. They also told me that they don't have any security cameras in the parking lot only in the entrance to the gym itself. I'm having them send over the footage to confirm when he left and when he entered the gym right now," McGee states.

"So, so far we have nothing," Tony isn't surprised to hear the annoyance in his boss' voice.

They get to work looking over the paper trail and wait until Abby or Ducky have more to add on whether it was murder or suicide. It is definitely looking like the former.

Gibbs motions for her to follow him an hour after their little conference on Donahue and she does so.

When they enter autopsy it is obvious that Ducky had barely begun to open up the man.

"Ah, Jethro, Caitlin, I have just started, but I can tell you that this is definitely murder. The angle of the sub-dermal bruising on his neck indicates that he was chocked from behind before he was strung up and put on display for the world to see. If he had hung himself the bruising would be in a v pattern and it would be closer to his C-1 and C-2 vertebrae," Kate takes this in as she joins Gibbs near the autopsy table.

"Whatever the ligature was that was used to strangle him wasn't rope, there were no fibers in the wound track or under his fingernails. I will know more in the next few hours," she gives a thankful nod.

"Thanks Duck," she gives him a smile as she runs to catch up with Gibbs who has already left at hearing all he needs to hear.

"Thanks, Ducky," she says over her shoulder.

"Oh, you are welcome, Caitlin. I hope that we can get together for dinner soon," she has missed the Scottish doctor.

"That would be lovely, Ducky," she gives him a smile before running to catch up to Gibbs before the elevator doors closed.

She arrives just before the elevator doors closed and the man gives her a raised eyebrow.

"Gibbs…?" she starts to ask.

"What?!" the man asks pulling the emergency stop lever and the lights dim in the elevator.

"Don't be angry at Director Shepard, she did what she thought was right," in turn the man scoffs. He obviously is still unimpressed by Jenny's quest for vengeance.

Kate has a feeling that the anger that Gibbs has at Jenny has already dissipated a significant amount, but he is holding onto a visible grudge for his own benefit and to punish his former partner who Kate still thinks was more than just that.

"If you question me again like that Agent Todd, you will be out of here faster than you can go whining to your new best friend, Director Shepard," Kate chuckles when the man finishes and instead of Gibbs giving her a glare he lets a small smile before stepping forward and switching the lever so the car continues to travel up to the third floor.

"You still have balls, Todd," she smiles again letting a laugh roll from her lips and a few seconds later the car comes to a stop and the doors slide open.

"Nice to have you back, Kate," she nods and follows him out back towards the squad room.

When they arrive there Ziva, Tony, and Tim are all hard at work looking for connections.

Kate walks to her desk and takes a seat before bringing up the profile on Captain Donahue that she had been looking at before

"Todd, McGee go interview Captain Donahue's widow," Kate gets up from her new desk and grabs her purse and then slides open the main drawer and pulls out her Sig, just in case.

"Right away, boss," McGee fires off and she gives Gibbs a nod before taking off towards the elevator.

Kate takes a deep breath and reminds herself that even though it has been almost a year since she has interviewed a victim's family member she knows what she is doing. She gives McGee a nod as she takes a deep breath preparing to ring the doorbell.

"Don't worry, Kate, I've got your back," she gives Tim a smile because he really is the nicest guy.

"Thanks, McGee, I think I can handle talking to the grieving widow," the junior agent gives her a nod.

"It could be her," that is a very cynical view of things, but it has happened before in her experience.

"That sounds like something Tony would say, cynical and chauvinistic," Kate just shakes her head with a laugh when McGee gives her a look signaling that is obviously where he had drawn up that lovely piece of information.

She rings the bell and they wait a long moment before the woman opens the door with puffy eyes and frazzled hair and Kate has to say if it is her she is a darn good actor.

"Mrs. Donahue, NCIS, Agent Todd and McGee," the woman nods and lets them in.

"Was my husband murdered? Because I know for a fact that John would never take his own life!" Kate is surprised at how blunt the woman is especially considering they have barely made it through the door.

"Yes, I'm sorry," the woman grief overtakes her and Kate nods to McGee to help the woman towards the nearest chair. After the woman has collapsed into a chair they give her a few moments to get herself together and as Kate exchanges looks with McGee she can tell this might take a while.

"I'm sorry, I… I don't…understand," Kate glances towards her and she can tell that the woman's grief is real, but underneath it she can tell that there something else that is making it hard for the woman to connect her words and her thoughts together.

"It's quite alright, Mrs. Donahue take your time. I know you are going through a lot right now, but is it alright if we ask you a few questions," the woman gives a hesitant nod wiping the stray tears from underneath her eyes and off her cheeks.

Kate takes a deep breath as she opens her notepad and gives a sad smile to the woman across from her and she glances over at McGee who also takes a deep breath each preparing to ask some rather difficult questions. Kate knows they need to start off easy especially since they had just broken the news that her husband had been murdered.

"When did your husband make it back from Norfolk?"

"Sunday last week, he drove all the way home as soon as the ship was docked and the skeleton crew had been in place. He couldn't… wait to be home, I'm sorry…" Kate is glad to see that the woman can at least answer that without completely falling apart again.

"You told Agent DiNozzo that you saw you husband last at 930 last night before he left the house," the woman nods crumbling the tissue in her hand a little.

""Yeah, he went to work out at the gym. He was still adjusting to the time difference from being away at sea so he was out of the house at weird hours," Kate nods and she can tell that woman isn't lying about this.

"How has he been adjusting to being back from?" McGee asks and Kate tilts her head knowing that what the woman says next and how she says it is going to define a lot about the questions they ask next and how the conduct the investigation.

"He was doing fine… at least I think, he didn't talk about his work to me. He didn't like to, but I could tell he was still worried about what was going on with the fleet and what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan," the woman says after a moment and Kate can see the frustration the woman has at the fact that she didn't know anymore about what her husband was going through.

"How long were you married?" Kate's eyes catch site of the wedding photo on the mantel.

"It would be 21 years in three months," McGee lets out a long puff of air and Kate looks at him the woman's words pulling a little on her heartstrings.

Kate can tell that McGee is going to segue into a more personal issue stuff hoping to see if there is a reason that the Captain was murdered, "Have you and your husband been having any problems lately?"

"Not more than any other husband and wife, where the husband is away 11 months out of the year. We fought, but we were also married for twenty years, it would be a marriage if we didn't fight ever so often," the woman looks at both of them through puffy eyes and truthfully Kate notices how calm the woman looks especially after she had just broken down a moment ago; it is like a complete shift in her behavior.

"Did your husband ever mention any problems at work?" she knows if there is anyone has heard about those problems it would probably be the wife since most men she had met tended towards ranting when in the presence of their significant other.

"Not that he would tell me about," the woman scoffs obviously annoyed at how little communication she had gotten from her now dead husband.

"But, I'm guessing that you knew more about it than you let on," the woman across from her looks down at her hands, but nods.

"Yeah, he always worried about how his crew was performing compared to the rest of the fleet, but it was uncalled for because they were one of the best kept crews."

"Did he have any complaints from his crew; we didn't find any on file?"

"There were a few, no one of note. From what I know, John was a fair man and the crew respected him. John may have been a stubborn man and set impossible standards, but he knew that it inspired them to work harder," Kate is surprised by how even those passionate words seem to fall flat as if something is holding the woman back from expressing any emotion besides sadness. From what she knows it is very typical of a person going through the grieving process because denial is a big part of not only the first few days or weeks even months. She also knows that people go in and out of sadness.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I can't talk about this right now," like a snap of the fingers the woman is once again at the other end of the spectrum as she starts to stand.

"We understand, Mrs. Donahue. We can come back later, but first we were wondering if we could take a quick look around?" she asks softly hoping that her tone will make it so her words don't get misconstrued as being brash and invasive especially since the woman just lost her husband.

"Of course, I…I just... I'm sorry; could you just let yourselves out when you are done?" Kate sees McGee nod out of the corner of her eye and she knows that their search is just a precursor to the one they would probably do in the next few days.

She glances around the room looking for something out of place as the woman walks away towards the bedroom and they know it is best to not disturb her.

She heads towards the kitchen before nodding for McGee to check the other rooms.

Kate catches sight of a pamphlet for St. Matthews Episcopal Church on the counter as she glances around the kitchen.

She glances up at the footsteps and she gives the woman a nod.

"We were just on our way out," Kate says giving a soft smile hoping that the woman is calm enough to talk for a minute.

"I'm sorry about that back there, I guess it just finally hit me that John is gone and that someone murdered him. My husband is gone," Kate gives her a pat on the back.

"No need to apologize. Are you and your husband members of Saint Matthews?"

"Oh no, I… it came in the mail I guess I just forgot to throw it out," Kate can tell the woman is lying, but she isn't sure why and she also happen to have noticed that at time was written on the corner of it.

"The wife was a bust, boss," Kate gives McGee a look and he gives a shrug that signifies he is sorry that he phrased it that way.

"She didn't give us anything we didn't already know, Gibbs," the man nods and turns back to his computer.

"Nothing in his car or at the lot, boss. Whoever attacked him either knew what they were doing or knew how to clean up the scene quickly," Tony says appearing around the corner with Ziva at his side.

"We had the car brought to Abby, but it doesn't look like there is going to be any evidence, Gibbs," the man nods.

They all look over the files for the next few hours and the sun quickly sets and the sky descends into darkness. By eleven o'clock everyone is tired and without anything to go on everyone is antsy.

"I've got nothing," Kate lets out looking out the window at the now darkened sky.

"Is it possible that this is just random?" Ziva asks and Kate glances over at her and the truth is that

"Not possible," Gibbs says returning from getting himself a new cup of coffee.

"Why because strangling someone is personal?" questions Kate even though she doesn't fully believe her own words.

"Well, yeah and they attacked him before he could get to his car which was a couple hundred yards from the entrance to the gym," Gibbs has a point.

Gibbs nods and Kate glances first at McGee and then Tony seeing if they will add something.

"Boss, there are many reported serial killers who have strangled their victims who were strangers to them," Kate nods confirming what Tim is saying to be true.

"Thank you that information, McGee. Whoever killed this guy strung him up for half of D.C. to see, sounds pretty personal to me," Gibbs always going for the obvious.

"Whoever it is we can't seem to find a connection to him, boss," she glances over at Tony and she is shocked to see him be the one to almost be giving up.

Gibbs motions for them to follow and all of them except for McGee make their way to the front elevator to meet Abby down in the evidence garage.

"Gibbs, Gibbs," Abby says cheerfully as all four of them exit the elevator into the garage. The woman is wearing a red NCIS jumpsuit having obviously been collecting evidence from the car.

"Find something, Abs?" the man asks simply.

When the woman's face falls Kate knows she hasn't found anything yet.

"The car is clean. Other than some dust from sitting at Norfolk for the last eleven months. The tank is half full, but that doesn't give us any clues. I'm sorry, Gibbs," I don't have anything.

"Was his gym bag in the trunk?" Tony asks stepping towards the black BMW.

"No, there is nothing in this car. Not even his wallet or an extra set of keys," if Kate didn't know any better she would think that the woman is excited to have found nothing, but she also knows that Abby is just a happy person.

"What about the security footage that Donahue's gym sent over?" Tony asks and he has a good point in asking this.

"It just confirmed what the manager told McGee, that Captain Donahue arrived at ten o'clock and left at eleven. I ran facial recognition on all of the exercisers who exited or arrived around the gym around the same time as Donahue nothing. Just your average run of the mill people getting in a work out after a late shift. No connection to Donahue or McLaughlin& Associates," they are getting nowhere on this one.

"I also ran the security footage collected by Metro from the bottom floor of McLaughlin& Associates. Nothing and I mean nothing from ten when the last person left until the time that the first associated arrived. Same as the garage and the lobby footage. There are no security cameras in the stairwells for some reason. Whoever killed Captain Donahue either knew where the cameras were positioned or they are a ghost because I couldn't find any evidence of tampering on the tapes or them having been overridden," now she knows why Abby had been so excited earlier because there seemed to be no explanation as to how someone got up to the tenth floor without being seen especially carrying a body.

"That's good work, Abs," Gibbs says before retreating towards

"But, Gibbs I didn't find anything," the woman hollers after Gibbs who has already scanned his retina and is getting into the elevator.

"Not your fault, Abs," Gibbs adds before the elevator doors close. Kate nods in agreement and she sees Tony and Ziva doing the same.

They each give Abby a nod before heading towards the elevator to go back to the squad room.

"Go home," they all nod at Gibbs as it has now after one and they have all been silently working since their little talk about finding now leads.

Kate gets up and stretches glad to be out of her chair and heading home even if it is to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag. She knows she over paid for her apartment, but it was better to have somewhere permanent to stay then staying at a hotel or motel which had a weekly rate.

She sends each of the team members a warm smile as she packs up her belongings as they scurry to do the same.

She gives Gibbs one final nod as she follows McGee, Ziva, and Tony out.

"Just a second, Agent Todd," Kate turns back to look at the team leader,

"What is it, Gibbs?" she tries to not sound brash, but it is late.

"Just wanted to say, good work," she nods thankful before turning to leave.

"I might like having you as a senior field agent along with DiNozzo," Kate turns back with a smile before running towards the elevator and getting in before the doors close. She throws a satisfied smirk at Tony as the elevator begins its descent.


	5. For All the World to See, Part II

**Sorry for taking so long to update!**

**This chapter is M rated! Please leave a comment any comment!**

* * *

For All the World to See, Part II

Tony collapses into bed after a very long day on the case. They had found some interesting leads and it seems that the killer could be anyone at this point. Tony cannot believe how amazing the last day has been having Kate back on the team. It is almost as if she had never left, but he knows that Ziva wouldn't be here if her death hadn't been faked. She and Ziva seem to be getting a long great and he is worried about the two women because they both have such strong wills and they could easily end him and get away with it. He can't help, but fantasy about the two of them, together. As he closes his eyes at last, he smiles as he sees Kate.

_Tony gives a gasp at the beautiful woman he sees walking in the entrance of the club as he sits at the bar waiting for his drink. Her beautiful dark brown hair and tan skin are emphasized by her purple dress that goes to just above her knee. She disappears a moment later onto the dance floor. He knows now seeing her that he won't be going home with any woman if it isn't her. _

_Tony walks towards the busy dance floor and forgets all about the drink that he had just ordered, searching with both his heart and eyes for one woman. _

_As he finds her a smile appears on his face. He quickly weaves through the dance floor till he is mere foot away from her. He sucks in a breath as he smells the familiar perfume, one that has always enticed him even when it shouldn't have. He knows that she won't attack him if he starts to dance with her because his scent is familiar. As he grips her hips, he knows there is no way that any other man is going to get the chance to dance with her or even get think about getting near her. As she leans back into him, she gives a moan of approval. He is already so hard for her and he had only seen her for a split second. He also knows that if she didn't want him dancing with her she could easily fight him off. She is a highly trained federal agent who could easily take him out in a split second especially since he is distracted by her beauty and his rather sexual thoughts. He really wants to slide his hands to the front of her thighs and feels the smooth skin just below her dress, but he knows that could be pushing it and could very well end this dance. The thumping of the bass from the club music reflects his racing heart. _

_As they dance the song changes to a familiar song and Tony can't suppress the smile that appears on his face. He had always considered this their song. As they sway together Tony can feel her heart race and he knows that they are on the same page. _

_ Sexy as I wanna be  
Got these fellas chasin' me  
It's 'bout time I hit the streets  
All my girls still feelin' me_

B girl ain't lost the beat  
Jumped over drama and I landed on my feet  
Gotta keep goin'  
No stoppin' me  
And if you don't like it, then  
La la la la la la la

Media, over here  
Comin' through like a world premiere  
Trench coat and my underwear  
Let's go with this freak show

_"Sing for me, baby," he says breathes hotly into her ear and even through the music and the others dancing he knows she can hear him as he turns the brunette back towards him. As he gets an even clearer look at her he is blown away._

_He brings her close and he feels her breath on his ear and he smirks as he brings her back to mold into him._

_Her beautiful voice sings along with the music in the club and unlike when she was singing in the shower a few years previous her voice is huskier and sends even more blood rushing straight to his already aching cock, "When I'm at a party  
Outrageous  
In my sexy jeans  
Outrageous,"_

_He gives a smirk as he whispers back into her ear, "I lied before, you have a beautiful voice." _

_She gives a wicked smile and presses into him even more and he gives a growl before pulling her into a passionate kiss that he has been waiting to plant on her lips since the moment her saw her again for the first time. He had thought about them together so many times in the past that he had once told a couple agents that she has tried to sleep with him in Paraguay and it had come back to bite him in the ass almost literally when she had threatened to hurt him later after he wasn't sick. That also happen to have been one of the last memories he had thought he would ever have of her and now he is glad to get a chance to form new and even better memories of her. _

_He quickly concentrates on her taste; she tastes like tequila, limes, chocolate, and some flavor that he can't put his finger on that is very Kate. He also loves the feeling of her lips against his which are so soft. He gives a groan as he pulls her in closer and feels every curve of her body in her satin dress against him. Her whimper tells him immediately that she has given into his kiss and he tries not to smirk. One of his hands quickly finds its way into her curly hair while the other snakes around her waist to the small of her back. Her hands find their way into his hair and he groans when he feels her nails scrap against his scalp. She gives a moan of pleasure against his lips and he so glad to know that she wants his kisses. He doesn't give her a chance before he parts her lips forcefully with his tongue and he smiles into the kiss when she whimpers in the best way possible as their tongues collide in a forceful dance. He gives a groan against her tongue because she tastes and kisses amazingly. They fight for dominance and he is glad that his partner refuses to give in and let him have dominance; it is that fighting spirit that he loves about her. As he shifts closer to her he can feel the heat and wetness radiating from her center against his tented pants and Tony knows as soon as they pull away he is going to be asking her to come back to his place. As they kiss he listens to the sound of his heart pumping wildly in his chest and he listens for those amazing whimpers and moans she makes every few seconds as his hands begin to wonder over her dress covered curves. He tries to keep his hands in respectively places that won't end this amazing kiss, but she is so sexy and it isn't helping hands that want to wander. _

_As he pulls away he can see that she is gasping for air, but she rewards him with a lustful smile and flushed cheeks as she begins to catch her breath and he feels his ego inflate at the fact that he can make a strong woman like Kate Todd breathless because of a kiss. Even though the club is dark he can see how dark her green eyes are with lust. _

_"Take me home, handsome," she speaks softly into his ear. He takes her hand and leads her off the dance floor and eventually out of the club. God, he is glad she said that because he doesn't know how long he could last and he doesn't just want to fuck her on the dance floor or against a wall in the alley because she means more than that. _

_The drive to his Georgetown apartment is excruciatingly long and he knows that he should have taken them her apartment, but he can't wait that long and her apartment is even farther away from the club than his. Even though he frankly remembers their conversation while they were in Gitmo about how women—more specifically her— like to make love in their own beds, he can't wait long enough to take her to her house. It seems that at the very least the traffic signals hate him because they seem to have to stop at every light. About halfway through their journey his right hand which has been drawing patterns all over her arm gets moved as she sends him a wicked smile as she carefully slides her hand over the center column and starts to rub his thigh rather close to his hardened cock and he tries really hard to concentrate on driving even though his eyes are about to cross because of the pleasure she is giving him as she now runs her hand not so subtly over his hardened length._

_"God, Kate you have to stop or I'm going to crash this car because of the amazing things you are doing!" she gives him a naughty smile before removing her hand from where she had been stroking him over his pants. He from then on keeps his eyes glued to the road in front of him hoping that the amount of concentration would ease some of his almost carnal need and the tightness in his slacks. _

_He knows this isn't like any of his other hook ups and he knows that he has to make this as special as possible even though he knows it is going to be special just because it is her. He has pictured doing so many things to her over the years that he doesn't know how long he can wait even though he wants to be able to kiss every last inch of her silky smooth skin. He knows he needs to cherish this moment because it is very likely that she would tell him it was a mistake in the morning. _

_The barely make it through the door before he is on her like glue, kissing her with unrestrained passion that he had been holding in for years. She responded with equal enthusiasm as he pins her to the wall and her hands lock around his neck as she clings onto him for support as he lifts her off the ground. She lets out a gasp and he pauses his kisses for a moment and pulls back to look into her hazel eyes to make sure that this is okay._

_"Please, Tony?!" she begs as their lips are, but a hairs breath away from each other's and she whimpers as he rubs his cock against the soaked material of her panties. Her breathy whimpers and moans of ecstasy are just egging him on and it takes all of him not to just lift up the skirt of her dress more and rip her panties off and just slide right into her tight wet heat. _

_He doesn't even let the words process in his mind before his lips are on hers again and his hands have dropped to her waist as he starts to rub his thumb over the material of her dress at her hip. He quickly decides that even though this isn't going to last very long that he doesn't want to take her up against the wall, he wants to lay her out in his bed where he can experience her skin gliding up against his in the most delightful way._

_He lifts her up into his arms and she gives a surprise gasp and then smiles as he walks them down the hallway to his bedroom. _

_Tony feels like a groom carrying his bride over the threshold and that makes him pause, but a smile rise to his lips at that thought. She gives him a smile all the same as he lays her down on top of his bed. As he leans down over her, he realizes that she is the only woman he wants in this bed more than just one time. He has almost never brought a woman back to his apartment. Other than Jeanne he hasn't been a serious relationship since Wendy and that was more than six years ago. He had a few flings that lasted a few weeks, but nothing that has felt as real and as intense as what he is feeling right now as he begins to work his hands over her skin. He gentle lays her down on the bed before climbing on top of her and catching her eye with a lustful gaze, he takes a moment to see how clouded her eyes were with lust. He quickly pulls her into a fiery kiss that leaves nothing to imagination. As he thrusts his tongue between her lips, he can't wait till he is doing the same thing to her core with his cock. Her hands are also running down his back and he gives a growl into her mouth when her hands find his ass and she pushes his hips so his length slides against the soaked material of her panties. He releases her lips and sucks in a heavy breath before trailing his lips along her cheek to her chin and then to the left side of her neck. She gives a moan and he brings the sensitive between his teeth and her sharp inhale eggs him on. After releasing the skin from between his teeth he runs his tongue over the mark he has just created. She is his now, no matter what she thinks. If he gets the chance he is going to convince her that they could be together, no matter what. He doesn't give a fuck about rule number 12 because like most of Gibbs rules it doesn't make sense._

_He gives a smirk as she whimpers as he continues to kiss her skin until he encounters the straps of her dress. He quickly peels his lips from her skin before saying, "Your skin tastes good, Kate."Her hands trail up his back and he desperately wants her hands against his bare skin. _

_"Tony," she whimpers out racking her nails through the nap of his hair as her hands start to trail down the back of his shirt she pulls him back in for a kiss and she also pulls his shirt out of the way to run her hands over the skin of his lower back. Her hands are like an unimaginable fire that he never wants to not feel again. _

_He also loves the feeling of her hands as she stroked over is silk dress shirt as her hands come around to the front and he gives a growl as she starts to work open the buttons of his shirt. He lets go over her lips hesitantly and lifts himself so his weight isn't as on top of her. He gives her a smile as she continues to unbutton his shirt. He can't help the groan that leaves his lips as she runs a hand down the skin that is now in view. As she pushes the shirt off his chest and he quickly pulls his arms out of the garment so it can fall onto the floor at the foot of the bed. He gives a smirk as he sees the woman laid out on the bed before him; she truly is the embodiment of every one of his fantasies. His hands make their way to her feet and he pulls off her stilettos that have surprisingly stayed on throughout their movement from the front door to the bed. She gives him a minx like smile as his hand travel up her legs with his thumbs on the inside massaging the well toned muscle of her legs. She leans up towards him hoping to catch his lips as he hikes the skirt of her dress up. He purposefully moves so her lips catch his check as he searches for the zipper of her dress. She tries using her hands to persuade him to get on with it and he admits it is working. _

_"The zipper is on the side, Tony," she whispers out as if afraid that her words will break the spell. Doesn't she know, there is no other place he would rather be then with her, here in his bed._

_He gives a chuckle and slides down the zipper she leans back onto the bed and he quickly pulls away the dress from her body. He gives a groan at the site of her in a matching bra and panty set. Which is black and lacy complete with little bows that are strategically placed. He has to say the undergarments are very sexy and if he wasn't in such a rush to make love to her right now he would take his time to admire her in them. Though he isn't sure he would ever get to see it again because he doesn't know if this is just a onetime thing and he is pretty sure he will be ripping off at least one of the two pieces of lingerie. _

_"DiNozzo, stop staring at me and get on with it," Tony smirks and he remembers who exactly is laid out on his bed waiting for him to fuck her senseless._

_"Impatient are we, Agent Todd?" she gives him an annoyed glance and he lifts her slight off the bed so she can mold into him. They quickly find their rhythm once again as their lips mold together and their tongues battle for control. His hands quickly run their way over her skin seeking for the clasp of her bra. He gives a groan when her nails dig into the skin of his back and he gives a smirk into the kiss because he always knew she would be an animal in bed. He is okay with her marking him because he has already left his mark on her neck and he intends to mark her in other places as well. Her lips pull away from his and he gives her a smile as her lips come in contact with the skin of his upper neck. He gives a groan when her lips and tongue find a sensitive spot behind his ear. His hands take action as he quickly unclasps her bra. She pulls away so the satin bra can fall away. He quickly pulls it from between them and throws it a direction away from the bed to be completely forgotten. He brings his hands to cup her oh so perfect breasts and is pleased to see how well the fit in his hands. _

_ "You, Agent DiNozzo, are wearing far too many clothes," she successfully flips him over so she can unbuckle his belt and he lets out a painful aroused gasp at the sight of her oh so perfect breasts bouncing from her movement. She gives him a smirk and he loves to see the dark lust swirling in her orbs as she quickly gets his belt off and pulls his pants down. He quickly rids himself of his shoes and socks. He doesn't give her time to get off his boxers because he flips her back to under him and her hands find purchase around his lower back as her fingers run under the edge of his boxers and he fights the urge to just give into the pleasure and take her right now. _

_Tony takes a long moment to stare at every curve of skin he could see in the moon lit room. She was unlike another woman he had ever been with and that is defiantly not a bad thing. The remnants of her surgery and bullet wound are evident between her breasts and Tony can't help, but the sadness that makes spread through his veins._

_He trails his lips back down her skin paying special attention to her scar before running his lips over the skin of her right breast as his other hand cups the other breast. He then takes the nipple between his teeth and she lets out a breathy moan as he works the hardened bud between his teeth and circles it with his tongue, she let out a scream of, "Oh god, Tony!" he continues his ministrations and he has glad to hear how responsive she is to him as he nips and swirls his tongues around her now hardened rosy red nipple. He repeats the action on her other breast before letting his lips kiss around the remaining sections of her chest. _

_"Tony," she says trying to pull him down to her and he lets her before covering her lips with his._

_His right hand quickly finds its way to her thigh so that he can bring their most intimate parts into better contact. The only thing separating his ability to fuck her senseless are his silk boxers and her little black panties that he can't wait to get off. Though he knows one thing though he has to make things good for her and he has to show her that she meant more to them any of the other women he has ever been with and if that meant having to put off his pleasure for a little while he is totally okay with that. He trails his hand from its position cupping her left breast to hook under her panties so he can pleasure her with his hands and tongue. He starts to trail is lips down her beautiful body towards her center. _

_He loves the gasp of surprise she gives as his lips start to trail his lips past her belly button and his tongue pushes past his lips as he comes into contact with the skin at the top of her mound and she let out the most sensual moan that made him smirk against her skin. He quickly parts her folds with his finger and flicks her clit which causes her to gasp and say, "Tony please!" _

_He ignores her pleas and dips his tongue into her glistening folds she lets out the most erotic sound he has ever heard which is a cross between a growl, a whimper and a moan._

_"YES!" she screams out as her wraps his tongue around her clit. He explores her folds with an expert tongue taking in the heady taste of her juices and he intends to imprint the memory of her flavor into his mind forever. He can tell that woman is really hot and bothered because of his ministration and he can't help the smirk that overtakes spreads across his lips as the woman grabs onto his hair as she continues to moan in pleasure as she grinds her pussy into his face. He knows that he could do this forever, but he also knows that he doesn't want to tease her all night. He knows that even though he would like to see her beg the prospect of bring her to brink of ecstasy has far better appeal right now. He decides to speed up the process and brings his thumb to join his tongue which is in the process of exploring her folds. He finds her opening and lets his tongue push inside as his thumb presses down on her sensitive clit. "Oh, fuck!" Tony smirks at the crass words that have just left the woman's mouth as he continues to thrust his tongue into her entrance. _

_He knows she is close, but he also knows she is going to need a little more stimulation to get her over the hurdle and he withdraw his tongue from inside her before reclaiming her clit between his teeth and maneuvers his hand towards her opening before thrusting a finger inside her the woman lets out a moan. He thrusts it in and out of her a few times at a fast pace before adding another. He can tell that she is close as he adds a third finger _

_"Oh god yes, Tony, right there!" he curls his fingers up towards searching for her g-spot so she will sail over the edge. _

_"Oh, I'm going to come!" he increases the pace of his thrust as he taps her g-spot which sends her spiraling over the edge._

_"OH, TONY!" she screams out and he feels her channel clench around his fingers and he can't wait for her to be doing that around his cock. _

_As he rolls off her she lets out a heavy hearted sigh before saying, "That is the most amazing thing that you ever done with your mouth!" She lets out a laugh as he licks his lips which are still glistening with her juices. He gives her a few moments before he turns to her with a questioning nod seeing if she is ready for more. _

_He reaches over to his bed side table and pulls out a condom and the woman gives him a salacious smile and Tony can tell that the woman has finally recovered from the powerful orgasm that he had just given her. She takes the foil package from him and opens it flashing a sexy smile as she eases herself off the bed and slides the latex onto his cock with a swiftness and familiarity that he hadn't expected from her. It isn't that he isn't aware that she has been with other men it is the fact that he knows she is the kind of woman who waits a while before jumping into the deep end. The woman gives a smirk and beings to pump his cock. He doesn't need any more help or else he will explode and he wants do that inside her. _

_He reclaims her lips in a passionate dance as he aligns their sweat soaked bodies so his now painfully erect member is positioned at her entrance he swivels him allowing the tip of his cock strike he clit. He slowly slides into her less than an inch and she lets out a groan of frustration. _

_"Don't tease, Tony!" when the woman lets out a whimper of pleasure he knows he can't resist her, or his need to be farther inside her. She digs her nails into his shoulder to emphasize her point. _

_ He can't even find the right words to describe the feeling he feels as he enters her for the first time and he knows he moans at the feeling and the whimper/moan that he hears from her throat as he eases into her. He lets out a deeply pleasure groan that doesn't even being to portray how good it feels to be inside her. He pauses for a moment after he sees the cringe of pain in her and he runs a loving hand over her cheek as he stares down into her hazel eyes that are clouded with lust, but he can also see the hurt reflected in the orbs. _

_"Are you alright, Kate?"he stops his motion and seeks a look asking that she is okay._

_"You are big Tony and I haven't been with anyone in over two years," he nods, but smirks as he realizes that she thinks he is well endowed._

_When she nods for him to continue it takes all of his concentration to not fuck her into oblivion especially after watching her cum because of his fingers and tongue which has to be the most beautiful thing he has ever had the opportunity to witness. He intends to see that sight many more times if he gets the chance._

_He captures her lips and he meets her tongue as he continues to hold himself from slamming into her hard. _

_"Oh, Jesus Christ, baby you are so tight," he growls out after she gives him a nodding telling him to go faster. He eases in a little more before pulling out and thrusting in a little faster and a little harder. He does this a few more times before picking up the pace knowing he can't last much longer. _

_"Please, Tony," the man groans as the woman whispers it in his ear before biting the bottom lobe. _

_"Oh god, yes!"the woman cries out as he hikes both her legs up higher around her waist which changes the angle of his entrance and causes both of them to let out highly aroused sounds. In turn her hands find their way from their position wrapped around his back just under his shoulders to his ass and he grunts out when she squeeze both of his firm butt cheeks. _

_"Fuck, Katie, you are amazing!" the woman grips for his head and pulls him into a searing kiss. Their tongues meet at the same pace as their thrusts. _

_He knows that he is as close as is she, but he doesn't want this to end so he keeps his rhythm at a medium pace intending to make the experience last a little longer. _

_"If you aren't going to follow through, Tony, I will," Tony groans at those words as the woman flips them over and begins to ride him and she looks glorious doing so as she picks up the pace as she slides down onto him. He quickly takes the opportunity to claim a nipple between his teeth which causes the woman to cry out in rapture. _

_"Oh, god, Katie, baby, so beautiful," the woman gives a whimper in return as she eases herself down onto his at a faster pace. _

_For a few short moments the only sounds that can be heard are those of the creaking of the bed, the noises of two people giving into their once bottled up passion, and the slamming of skin as they continue to meet. _

_"Shit, I'm so close, baby, I can't…" he groans out and the woman looks down at him and smiles through a heavy breathy moans. _

_"Let it go, Tony!" she thrusts even faster and harder which causes him to explode as she continues to thrust down. _

_"KATE!"_

_As he lets it all out he feels her tighten around his cock as she lets out a piercing scream of, "GOD, TONY!" _

_"Wow," they say in unison as she collapses on him with him still inside of her, both of them trying to catch their breath._

_"Yeah, that pretty much covers it," she says with a smile before rolling off of him. He turns over to the side and quickly disposes of the filled condom completely satisfied from their love making. _

_He strokes her cheek as she sleepily smiles up at him, "That was beyond amazing, Kate."_

_"Yeah, it was Tony," she snuggles deeper into his chest and he can tell that she is going to fall asleep very soon._

_"Kate, you have to know this isn't a onetime thing. I want more than just this one night; I want you for as long as you are will to let me be a part of your life. I know we work together and Gibbs has rule 12, but I have something to tell you. I love you; I've loved you for so long."_

Tony's eyes shoot open and he lets out a surprised breath. He lets out a chuckle. The dream had been so real and a brighter smile rises to his lips because he would love for that to happen. Though he cannot picture Kate going to a nightclub all by herself, but it is a very nice fantasy and the end of his dream is very eye opening. He takes a long gulp as he realizes that being in love with Kate could be very bad for his career and his life in general. What worries him most is the fact that he had broken up with Jeanne just a week ago and he is already feeling more than just attraction for someone else, he is having feelings that might even outweigh those he had, honestly still has for Jeanne.


	6. For All the World to See, Part III

**This section is on the lengthier side so be warned! I just couldn't find a good way to split up! Please review! Thank you to all those who have been loyal readers thus far! **

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As he sits waiting for the other team members, he closes his eyes and gets a flash of his dream and a smile covers his lips. The picture that gleams behind his eyelids is that of Kate withering in pleasure above and below him. Tony hopes that one day that he can actually be the one causing that intense look of pleasure instead of imaging what it looks like. Tony leans back in his chair with a smile painted on his face and wonders what he is going to have to do to get her to where he can be able to make love to her just like that.

"Fantasizing about the bimbo from last night, DiNozzo," Tony jerks up in his chair and his eyes fly open. He quickly scoots his chair closer to the desk as to hide the signs of his arousal. He stares into hazel eyes and sees the twinkle of amusement as she leans forward onto his desk. Kate Todd has no idea. He needs to find away to prove to her that he can be in a serious relationship and can love her more than any of the men she has ever been with.

"I can't believe you still think the only thoughts in my head are about sex," Tony can't help, but think how sexy her skeptical expression is because she obviously doesn't believe him. He has just proven her right, but sex isn't the only thing on his mind right now she is.

His eyes follow her as she sits down at her desk next to him and he takes in her full figure in her tasteful slacks and pink colored blouse that is bright against her skin. He also notes that her top is lower cut than the one that she had worn the day previous and he could even see the remnants of the surgical scar between her breasts. He turns away quickly hoping to not be caught trying to look down her top because she would go off on him if she caught him.

Seeing the scar makes him feel nauseous because it reminds him that not that long ago she had been shot in the chest and he had thought she had been buried six feet under in Indiana. He can't help, but feel angry for a moment, not her, never at her, but at the situation and for the most part at himself because he should have known that she really wasn't dead. He shakes his head and tries to rid himself of those thoughts hoping to put himself in the right mind set for the case and to hopeful have a normal conversation with Kate.

"You're here early, I'm surprised McGee isn't here," Tony discreetly keeps his eyes on her as she starts up her computer and types in her log in to the NCIS intranet.

"He's probably down with Abby," she nods with a little twinkle in her eye and Tony can see the wheels turning in her head regarding Abby and McDork.

Gibbs strolls in with a coffee in hand a few minutes later just as McGee appears around the corner from the back elevator. Ziva appears a few seconds later with her orange beanie a top her head, having obviously taken the stairs. That is one thing he won't dare tease the woman about because she had really liked that guy before he died.

"Do we have anything new?" Gibbs' annoyance is obvious.

"Boss, I just spoke to Abby, she went over the physical evidence again and she went over his computer also clean," McGee says not looking up from his computer screen.

"Boss, I think it's the wife," he pipes in, even though the evidence points to a male killer.

"Tony what is your strong fascination with it being the wife?" the Mossad Officer says sitting down at her desk and withdraws the beanie from her head before fixing her hair ever so slightly. Tony can feel Kate's almost disgusted disbelief that is directed towards him.

"It just makes the most sense, _Ziva_," he receives an eye roll from both women and Gibbs gives him a 'you are being dimwitted' look.

"Tony, her grief was real and even though she was rather sedated during our interview she wasn't faking," Tony glances towards the woman and she gives him a stern glare for accusing a grieving woman of murdering her husband. What amazes him is how much the woman still scares him even though he has spent two years working alongside a trained assassin.

"We have to find something I just spoke to Shepard and, SecNav wants us to find the killer and fast because of his high ranking and the fact that he was on track to making admiral," Gibbs gives them a stoic expression and Tony can tell that he is annoyed about having to follow orders passed down the chain of command to him and his team.

"DiNozzo, Todd, go interview the head of the investment firm and see if they have any sensitive clients from the hill or military contractors. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the changes being made to the fleets," they each nod and Tony watches as Kate grabs her purse and puts her gun in its holster on her hip.

"I'm driving, Tony," she says swinging the new set of keys given to her for the truck and the two Chargers.

"As long as your driving is better than Ziva's?" he sends the Mossad officer a fun-loving smirk.

"I have become accustom to the traffic laws of D.C. and the US, _Tony_," Kate glances between them with a smile that she is trying to suppress by biting her bottom lip. Tony wishes he has that bottom lip between his teeth.

"You better not tell me I drive like a girl, Tony," Tony restrains a smile as she has set herself up for a comeback especially since he had accused her of that not that long ago.

He decides against his comment and says, "I would never say such a thing about you, Katie," the glare he receives makes him glad he said it. At the very least if she reacted that meant she isn't completely indifferent to him.

"Don't call me that, Tony," she elbows him in the ribs as the elevator door close. He tries not to holler in pain, but her blow is significantly more powerful than he remembers and it makes him almost keel over.

After recovering from the pain he says, "Been working out, Kate?"

"Oh, you have no idea, Tony," he would love to know and his expression obviously shows it because the woman gives him a disapproving look before rolling her eyes.

Even though they are in no rush to get to the investment firm Kate is driving at considerable pace and as she weaves in out of traffic, Tony is surprised he isn't holding on for dear life. "Where did you learn to drive like this, you didn't drive like this before?! You use to get annoyed when I went over the speed limit by even ten miles an hour."

"Ever had to chase down a suspect through the busy streets of L.A? You learn pretty quickly how to drive even more offensively than they teach you at FLETC," Tony shifts his eyes back in forth because he is pretty sure the last time she was at FLETC was like twelve years ago.

"Oh, you never chased them down on foot?" he remembers having to do that all the time when he worked in Baltimore.

"No, I made my Probie do all the leg work," she winks and can't help the chuckle that rises to his lips.

"I never knew you could be so cruel, I'm impressed," he knows he had tortured McGee the first year he was on their team, but even though McGee would never admit it, Tony knows it made him a better agent. Kate having a mean streak isn't a shock to him, but he always thought she would be nicer to an agent just starting out then he ever was with McGee.

"Actually sometimes I ran, but it depended on who was driving or who had the more sensible shoes on. There were a few times where when one of us would catch a guy and he was surprised that we had caught him with heels on. Generally though having a Mercedes, Aston Martin, or Cadillac to cut off the suspect's escape plan, made our arrest rate almost 100," Tony's eyes widened.

"OSP gets fancy cars and we can't even get budget approval when one of the Chargers needs servicing," Tony wonders about where NCIS' priorities are, but L.A. is all about the bright lights, money, and some prestige.

As they arrive and park Tony wonders what message the killer was trying to send by throwing him out the high window where everyone could see him.

"Hey, Tony have you thought that the Captain's death might have do with him being in the wrong place at the wrong time? The building is only five blocks from the gym. Maybe he got off on the wrong floor and walked in on someone embezzling funds?" Tony thinks Kate's theory is good, but even she herself had said earlier that it seemed likely that he knew his killer or the killer knew him.

As they enter the lobby and pass the security desk with a nod and wait for the elevator Tony notices for the first time that there is no business directory and that makes sense considering there were so many private businesses.

"Tony, did we find any Navy connections to the investment firm?" he can tell from her expression that she is just checking even though she is up to date on everything about the case.

"They wouldn't agree to release their records without a warrant and legal doesn't think we have enough probable cause without making a connection to the firm especially since the firm is regional to Maryland, D.C., Virginia, and Delaware. As you heard earlier they found no immediate connection," Tony notices the thankful nod he receives at this information. The doors of the nearest elevator slide open and he notes that it didn't take long for the elevator to arrive at the lobby.

"How do they expect us to make a connection without the records," she finishes her statement as pushes the button for ten.

"It's all bureaucratic nonsense, Kate," the woman nods and he can tell that she agrees that sometimes things don't work in their favor.

"Don't I know it, Tony? This would be so much easier if there was a terrorist connection or at the very least a foreign intelligence angle because the we could go for a FISA warrant and you and I both know those never get rejected," Tony's eyes narrow at the fact that the woman says this in such nonchalant manner as if it is the most normal thing in the world to say.

"What were you doing at OSP?" the woman just shrugs and they wait in silence as the elevator ascends for a few more seconds before it gets to the tenth floor.

"Good morning, Welcome to McLaughlin & Associates, what can I do for you?" the blonde gives a overly cheerful smile.

"Morning, Federal Agents, we need to speak with Mr. Anderson, regarding our murder investigation," the twenty some secretary is flustered at his forceful tone. If it were just a year previous he would have tried to sweet talk the girl behind the desk. The both flash their badges long enough for the girl to read NCIS and their names.

"He's in a staff meeting until nine. He has a busy schedule, but let me page our security guard to escort you to speak with his assistant regarding how many minutes you can speak with him," he rewards her with a soft smile.

"It might be a few moments, so feel free to take a seat," Tony eyes the overall sleek waiting room that isn't much different than that of a doctor's office.

"Thank you," he notices Kate giving her a condescending smile.

As Tony takes a seat next to the wall and a side table as far away from the front desk, so they can possibly discuss the case.

"You could have been nicer to her, Kate," Tony receives a raised eyebrow especially since she didn't say a word to the woman.

"Oh, I forgot she is your type, young, leggy, and blonde," Tony wants to place a hand over his face in annoyance and disappointment. She is making it clear that he has a lot of work to do to convince her that she is the only one he cares about. He knows that his past exploits, behavior, and actions all working against him in this case.

"I'm getting older, Kate, college students don't have as much appeal anymore," he gets an incredulous expression before she lets out a scoff.

"Okay, prove it to me," she actually almost looks serious even though he can see the little bit of amusement twinkling in her eyes because she obviously thinks he is destined to fail. Tony gives an internal first pump. Tony gives a smile and thinks, _I intend to_.

"Agents," they both look up at a well put together security guard, who doesn't look like a rent a guard, who has just been hired for show.

"If you would follow me, please," Tony can tell that this firm must have lots of clients or rich clients. The amount of money wasn't obvious when they had been here investigating and the Metro police officers had escorted them to the scene.

"So do you work for a company or directly for the firm?" he inquires as they pass through the secure door.

"I work for Diamond Security Firm, I don't always work on this floor, but I work for the building," Tony gives him a smile, he glances around and notices that it is fairly quite in the office.

"Dana, these are the agents from NCIS, they wish to speak to Mr. Anderson," the assistant is slightly older than the secretary and she is in a power suit which makes her look professional and well educated.

"He will be out of the staff meeting in a moment, let me show you to his office," even he can't help the chuckle as he can read the words on the door ten feet away. Kate's face holds a serious expression; apparently she has more respect for this woman than the other.

She opens the door and shows them into the office that he swears is equal to half the size of his 1200 square foot apartment.

"Please, feel free to get comfortable, he will be with you shortly. Can I get you something to drink?" they both shake their heads as they sit down in matching arm chairs that he considers pretty comfortable.

"How much you want to bet, we are going to have to wait for a while?" he questions.

"A while, but at least we aren't in L.A. the business men there think the world owes them."

"Well I've met some D.C. businessmen that are like that," Tony says simply glancing around hoping to get a feel for the head of the investment firm.

"So if you aren't into college girls anymore does that mean no Panama City for spring break?" he glances down at his hands and knows that gave him away. He smirks quickly remembering the picture her from the wet t-shirt contest.

"I don't know maybe I will find more pictures of you during your wild days in college," his eyes twinkle with amusement when she gives him a death glare and Tony wonders if there are more pictures to find.

"No," Kate leaves it at that and even though he can tell she is telling the truth he really wishes she isn't.

"Hello. I'm sorry we are running behind schedule today. What can I do for you, Agents?"

"DiNozzo and Todd. We were wondering about your empty office," the man gives a look and he obviously has to think about his answer.

"Like I told Metro police that office has been empty for over a year since one of our senior VPs retired, Warren Dogan, I would give you his number, but he died of a heart attack a month and a half ago. No one has been in there for months. We have left filing cabinets in there in the past, but nothing recently," Tony can tell that the man is annoyed about having to answer the questions again.

"I'm sorry, but I really have to go. I will let my assistant escort you out and answer anymore questions that you have," Tony lets a grumble out because they hadn't even been able to ask about connections to the hill and possibly the DoD. 

They arrive back at the Navy Yard annoyed that they hadn't found anything and that Anderson hadn't let them ask more than one question before swooping away.

"Abby confirmed Ducky's findings about the ligature, a plastic tie about a quarter inch in diameter. Nothing that you couldn't find on any number of things," Ziva says as they enter.

"He had a long list, but I stopped listening after he went into a rant about the creation of plastic," Tony totally gets it.

"Weapon of opportunity then," Tony responds and Kate nods.

Kate takes a long breath before pulling the trigger and she smiles after a long moment as she takes the scope and checks the target. Even after a year of having not shot a sniper rifle she still manages to hit the target exactly where she means to. It is also kind of peaceful and it is a great way to focus her mind after having been on nonstop go since she got back from the undercover operation. The last two years have been complete chaos and it is nice to have a quiet moment to herself. It feels good and even though it had been the way that she had almost died, it gives her piece knowing that she would never shoot someone without cause. It also has helped her come to terms with her own shooting, now she knows never let her guard down because some could shoot from anywhere. There is something peaceful about being the only one out here and just being able to hear the sound of the nearby river and the slight wind. She fires again after looking down the scope.

Tony glances around, it is just after three in the afternoon and they had still come up with nothing. He has been so focused on finishing his paperwork in hopes of Gibb's letting him go at five to get dinner that he hadn't even noticed when the other Senior Field Agent had slipped away. She has truly become sneakier after the two years away and that kind of scares him because she could probably totally sneak up on him and scare the living daylights out of him.

"Hey, guys, where did Kate go?" he doesn't mean to sound alarmed, but he is.

"Nice of you to notice, DiNozzo, she left half an hour ago to go to the shooting range," the annoyed look Gibbs gives him reminds him why he respects his boss. He is sure that Kate hadn't been able to sneak by Gibbs because the man is like a hawk, nothing ever gets by him.

"I'll be right back, boss," he says scurrying off towards the elevator.

As he climbs out of the Charger and glances towards the range he notices that only two of the stalls are being used and as he advances he notices both of them are men. He glances back towards the street where he sees the other Charger sitting. Where the hell is she? He glances at the manmade ridge set up off to the side that is meant for the tactical teams to use to prepare for specialized ops. It also is used for agents to practice their long range shooting and though Kate has said nothing about it in the past he knows that is where he will find her. As he walks towards the range he is unsurprised to see a target set up and as he peers around he is surprised to not see her anywhere. She had apparently chosen to try and blend in with the environment, but he is sure that even if he can't see her she could see him.

He waits for a long moment and then off in the distance he sees her stand up and take the long walk towards him. As she gets closer he finds it hard to believe that he missed her, but he lets a smile raise to his lips as she walks towards the target and his eyes widen at the tight grouping around the center mass of the human shaped target and the three in the head forming a perfect triangle.

"You follow me, DiNozzo?" he chuckles because over the two years pervious that they had worked together she had accused him of that a few times when he had made fun of her dates.

"You are a pretty good shot, Todd," Tony notices the glint of mirth in her eyes at his surprised tone of voice

"Thanks, Tony. I'm better than you, for sure," Tony bites his lip a sarcastic smile.

"Are you sure about that? I could totally hit that target from up there," he knows he is lying through his teeth as he tries to grab for the long barreled semi-automatic weapon that Kate is holding.

"Oh, don't even think about it, DiNozzo, this gun is my baby," Tony will never tell the woman, but that kind of horrifies him a bit.

"Let's get back before, Gibbs yells," Kate chuckles and he can tell immediately that the woman is thinking up some witty retort.

"Oh you mean at you. I told Gibbs where I was going," he shakes his head and laugh sbecause she makes a good point.

It is late at night and all of the team members are trying to stay busy, but nothing is coming up. Kate glances around the squad room and her eyes land on Ziva who is staring at the computer screen in almost hopelessness. Kate glances at the three men in the office and all of them seem to be content in their tasks, even though she is pretty sure Tony is playing Tetris on the computer.

"I was going to get coffee, anyone up for joining me?" Kate mostly directs her question to the other woman, who is looking tired despite trying to focus completely on her task and is staring blankly at her computer screen.

"I will go with you, I'm not finding anything more and I am getting a headache staring at the same words on the screen," Ziva says with a smile. She gives a glance towards the men and Gibbs despite being a coffee addict doesn't look up or acknowledge her question. Tony gives a small smile, but shakes his head. McGee is also too focused on his task at the computer to respond. She grabs her purse and Tony gives a smirk and Kate rolls her eyes at his obvious fantasy of the two of them together. Kate is not surprised by that at all because obviously Tony is still the sexist pig he has always been.

"Gibbs, we'll be back," silver haired man gives a nod.

"So, we haven't gotten to talk very much, Ziva, I hope that you know that I'm not trying to take your place on the team?" the other woman gives her a small, but sincere smile.

"I am not worried Kate, I know that the others are really excited to have you back. I know you are a good agent and a good friend to all of them. They have all had such wonderful things to say about you. I think we can make a good team, all of us together," Ziva finishes as they enter the elevator.

"You know you would not be at fault if you wanted to take my place on the team because it was yours before it was mine," Kate shakes her head with a laugh because she would never do that to someone that her friends have so much respect for.

"Ziva I…" Kate struggles to find the right words, which isn't a normal occurrence for her. "You have been on this team almost as long as I was before I got shot and I can see clear as day that you have earned their respect and the fact that you have that from Gibbs says a lot about your character and it is already clear to me that you have made friends with all of them."

They don't talk much on the short ride to the coffee shop. The coffee shop is empty and there orders come up quickly and they decide to take a seat for a few minutes before heading back to the Navy Yard.

Kate glances across at the other woman. "I know this a lot to ask, but did you know a former Mossad Officer named Ari Haswari," Kate watches the woman's expression darken, in pain even though it is barely detectable.

"Director Shepard, didn't tell you?" Ziva asks in shock letting a little bit more away when she makes this inquiry.

"It wasn't her decision, after I was put into WitSec it was up to my handlers what to tell me. I tried to find the information on the NCIS server while I was at OSP, but I believe that file was blocked specifically from me," Kate lets out an annoyed grumble. She had asked Eric to try and hack into the file, but the man had just been starting out and he was too afraid of losing his job to try and help her.

Ziva takes a long breath in before taking a sip of coffee, "So you don't know the circumstances regarding my introduction to NCIS and my eventual assignment to MCRT?"

"No all I know is that you and Gibbs and the team met on a case," Kate realizes in that moment how vague WitSec and NCIS had been about everything that happened after she 'died'.

"I was Ari's control officer at Mossad. I was sent by the assistant director of Mossad to assess and handle the situation. At that time I believed that he was still faithful to Israel and Mossad and even though he had infiltrated Hamas. I thought he was still doing it for bettering of the state. I was ordered to help him escape the U.S. not knowing that what he had truly done and when the truth came to light I couldn't understand why and when I did I couldn't… couldn't believe that a fellow Mossad officer would betray everything that I believed in and in order to save Gibbs I shot him. My father was the assistant director of Mossad then and is now the Director. According to both NCIS and Mossad, Gibbs shot Ari, but I did because I believed I was doing the right thing by saving Gibbs, but even as you sit in front of me and I know for certain that he shot you, I regret the decision to do so every day because what many people don't know is that Ari was my half-brother. My father had an affair with a Palestinian doctor who over saw a critical clinic in the Gaza Strip. He wanted to have a child with Arab blood so he could be accepted into Hamas. Kate, I don't agree with either of my father's or my brother's decisions especially my brother's because he shot you and lured Gibbs into a sadistic game for his own pleasure," Kate tries to absorb all of this and all she can feel is sorrow for the Mossad Officer who had to kill her own brother.

"Ziva, I can't even imagine. When I met your brother even though he held Ducky, his assistant Gerald, and I hostage I still saw kindness in his eyes. I don't know what happened to make him betray his country and your family, but I'm sorry that you had to kill you brother, Ziva," she can't even imagine killing one of her brothers.

"You know I've never told Tony, McGee, Abby, or Ducky the truth, but I believed you deserved to know," Kate isn't sure what to say, but gives Ziva smile.

"Thank you for trusting me with the truth," they both get up and give a heavy sigh because of the intense weight from the conversation.

"I think it is best that we get back," Kate nods because it is getting late and they still have a lot of work to do.

"I think you're right, Ziva."

As they walk back to the car, Kate decides to ask about Tony and Ziva, "So you seem pretty close with the rest of the team. And I don't know how to ask this without sounding like I'm prying, but you and Tony?" Kate is shocked when the other woman laughs and the continues to laugh for a very long few minutes.

"Tony and I, are you kidding?!" Kate shakes her head and the woman laughs again.

"I will be the first person to admit that I felt some attraction to Tony at the beginning, but that is all it ever was because, my god, he's Tony! He's my co-worker, he is annoying, he is always correcting me when I get something wrong. Besides he's always carried a beam for someone else," Kate raises her eyebrow at Ziva's wrong use of what she considers a rather common idiom.

"I believe you mean torch and from what I saw he cared a lot about Jeanne," Ziva gives her a raised eyebrow and Kate wonders who she is talking about if it isn't Jeanne. Ziva's expression tells her that she is missing something right in front of her. Ziva doesn't add anymore and Kate decides not to press because she knows that she will probably find out eventually.

"Ziva, you got any juicy details on Abby and Tim?" the look Ziva gives her as they climb into the car is enough to cause Kate to giggle out in laughter.

"Abby and McGee?" Ziva asks bewildered.

"Never mind, I guess they haven't decided to get back together," then she sees the realization reflected in Ziva's brown orbs and she lets out a chuckle.

"Mostly they are just jealous of the other's romantic interests, but other than that no movement whatsoever," the both laugh at Ziva's statement.

"One of these days I'm going to get them to figure it out," Kate says as she turns on the car and puts it drive and pulls out of the parallel parking space.

"Good luck with that Abby is one of the most stubborn people I have ever met and I've met my share of stubborn people," Kate gives a smile with a laugh and nods because that is true. Kate has a feeling that there is more to why Ziva thinks Abby is stubborn, but she doesn't ask.

It is past two and none of them, not even Gibbs can seem to figure out who the killer is it is like the murder was random, but there is no way that it was because it was like the Captain got mugging or something. There is some clear message by hanging him out the window after he was dead, but none of them can seem to figure out what it is.

Kate sips her coffee slowly as she drives and she is tired because it is so early and she is taking a longer route to work very near to where the victim's house happens to be. She realizes what the discrepancies in Mrs. Donahue remind her of. She had been up and down all during the interview, but she had been almost to calm. A lot of the wives she met in L.A. were like that cold, distant, and out of touch with their surroundings.

"So, stupid, how did I miss it?" Kate hadn't been the one to search the bedroom or the bathroom, but she would be willing to bet if the woman had a drug problem she would have been smart enough to put the drugs in some generic bottle that is suppose to hold aspirin or Tylenol. Though Kate wouldn't be surprised if the woman is a recovering addict.

As she arrives in the squad room she sends Ziva a smile and a nod as a greeting as she turns to glance where Ziva is looking which is across at Tony who is leaned back in his desk chair with a GSM over his face. Ziva places a finger to her lips and Kate chuckles under her breath. She mouths 'Is he really asleep?' The Israeli woman nods in response. Kate shifts her head indicating that she is going to go wake him up.

"So what is it this morning, DiNozzo? Naughty nurses, cheerleaders, or maybe possibly vampires?" she asks right into his ear and the man wakes up in shock.

"Ahh!" Kate steps out of the ways as Tony falls out of his leaned back chair onto the floor.

"Nice going, Tony," Kate lets out with a laugh and she turns to look at Ziva who is hollering in laughter from behind her desk. Kate walks by Tony spread out on the floor and goes behind her desk where she sets down her purse and backpack.

"No, for your information it is schoolgirls," Kate worries at the smirk on the man's face as he gets up and fixes his hair and then his tie and suit. He straightens the wrinkles out of both of his dress shirt and slacks.

"Hey, Ziva did you know that Kate use to be—" she doesn't let him finish before she walks over to him and punches him in the arm.

"Ow! When did you get so violent, Katie?" she gives him an eyebrow raise in response.

Kate turns when she hears a chuckle and she gives McGee a smile.

"Morning, Tim," the younger agent nods still chuckling from having watched the last few minutes of interaction.

"Get to work," Gibbs says swooping in and Kate is surprised by how use to Gibbs' antics she already is again.

"I got it!" Tony hears and he snaps his head towards Kate especially since she has been so quiet for the entire day.

"I noticed an activities list for St. Matthews Episcopal Church in the victim's home and the wife told me neither of them were religious, but I could tell that there was something that she wasn't telling me," Tony is surprised that Kate had picked up on one single thread that he was sure any of them would have missed.

"So?" he asks waiting for the woman to proceed. He can tell she is waiting for Gibbs to come back.

"I talked to one of the priests and he told me that neither the Captain or Mrs. Donahue are parishioners at the church and even though the church offers a wide variety of community based activities the times written on the pamphlet to correspond to the only one not listed because of the sensitive nature. Narcotics Anonymous is held on Monday and Wednesdays at 8-9," Tony can't help, but notice how easily the woman had been able to surmise those facts just by seeing a date and time scribbled on an activity pamphlet.

"Wait, did you just say Narcotics Anonymous?" McGee asks confused.

"You didn't notice how out of it Mrs. Donahue seemed out of it when we went to interview her?" he tilts his head and thinks about it before nodding.

"So, how does this help us establish a connection between McLaughlin & Associates and the Captain?" Ziva asks and Tony has to agree.

"It will hopefully help tell us who either wanted Donahue dead or confirm hopefully what Tony suspects about it being the wife," Kate says after a moment.

"We need someone to go undercover then," Tony says glancing between the team.

"Ziva," the woman nods as Gibbs say this and Tony notices Kate smile before crossing her arms over her chest.

"What boss you don't think I can play a drug addict?"

"Yeah, I do, but they would never let you into the church, DiNozzo," Tony glares when the three other agents other than Gibbs each express their amusement. McGee chuckles and Ziva has a silly smile plastered on her face. Kate in turn lets out a barely audible laugh, but sends him her classic smirk.

"Besides all of us have interviewed the key players in this case and Ziva is the only one who has had minimal contact with any of them throughout the progression of the case," Kate adds and Gibbs nods at the woman's statement and Tony wishes that Gibbs would trust him like that.

"I have an idea Gibbs give me an hour to get some things together and we will have Ziva looking like she is ready to spill her guts to a room full of strangers," Tony is interested in what the hell that even means.

"Get it done we have less than four hours to get surveillance set up," the man grumbles out and Tony's eyes narrow as Kate grabs her purse and swoops away to the elevator without another word.

Tony eyes the other team members who are already getting back to work. He slides out of his chair and around the left side of his desk squeezing between it and partition and runs to catch up to Kate who is still waiting for the elevator. The doors slide open just as he makes it to her and she gets in.

"Where you going, Kate?" he asks with a charming smile as he leans against the frame of the elevator stopping the doors from closing so the elevator

"Nowhere that you need to know, DiNozzo," Tony smirks and the woman gives him a look telling him to try and test her and he waits for a long moment for something to happen and when nothing does, he steps into the elevator. When the woman raises her hands from her side he assumes that she has given in and is going to at least let him ride the elevator down to wherever she is going. The next second she does something he isn't prepared for and she shoves him out of the elevator. He is so shocked that the elevator doors close and the woman waves goodbye to him with a smirk plastered across her lips.

He walks back to his desk a little defeated and he sees the smirk that the Mossad Officer gives him. "You know I think I'm going to like working with Kate."

An hour later Kate walks back into the squad room with a garment bag slung over her arm.

"You have got to get into character, Ziva," Kate can tell that the woman is a little skeptical about not only this mission, but the fact that she had disappeared for an hour.

"I am I going to be wearing something like those homeless people who begs on street corners," Kate is surprised by her assumption especially since she can tell that if there is anyone who knows that things aren't one-dimensional it is the woman in front of her.

"No not at all. The point is for you to be an addict for all intents in purpose actually functions in society rather well," she can tell that she has not only peaked the interest of the woman going undercover, but the other senior field agent and McGee.

"Come with me, Ziva," the woman nods and follows her towards the woman's restroom.

"A second, Kate," Kate turns towards Tony and she cautiously walks towards the former Baltimore detective throwing a curious and slight worried look to McGee and Ziva over her shoulder who both shrug, but each give her a look of caution.

She walks between their desks towards him. "What do you want, DiNozzo?"

He motions for her lean in and lowers his voice so only she can hear and says, "Just to let you know to watch your cute butt. I still have the picture of the wet t-shirt contest," she tries hard to not hit him when he says this, but she also can't help, but realize that she has missed this game of back and forth with Tony.

"Be very careful what you wish for, Sex Machine because I can destroy you and it will be so much worse for you then what Lieutenant Kim did by putting you on the Herpes Alert website," she says this into his ear and as she pulls away she is delighted to see his horror as she turns away and gives a nod to Ziva.

"Are you going to come out? It can't be that bad," it had only been a couple minutes since they had entered the bathroom and Kate had passed the garment bag to Ziva for her to change.

"It's not," Kate turns away from the sink when she hears the click of the lock turning on the bathroom stall.

"Does it not fit?" Kate is aware that she is probably a few pounds heavier than Ziva particularly in the chest and shoulders, but she doesn't think that the difference should affect much especially with the outfit that she had picked out. Kate takes a long sweep of looking over the woman who has a black pencil skirt and silvery gray sweater/ white shirt combination.

"I look rigid!" Kate in turn smiles and even though it hurts a little bit because Ziva is wearing her clothes, but the truth is that Ziva looks exactly like what she had envisioned when she had come up with plan.

"That's the point, Ziva. You are suppose to be a housewife from an upper middle class family who has been raised on the ideals of maintain decorum no matter what and that is why you have become a Dilaudid addict because it makes it easier to just let everything go and pretend that nothing effects her. The addiction is also supplied by faking persistent pain and getting drugs from different doctors," Kate notices Ziva nods as she takes in this information.

When Ziva walks over to the mirror and checks her reflection Kate can tell the woman is still a little uncomfortable

"One final thing," Kate reaches into her suit jacket pocket for the necklace box that she had grabbed that had one of the things that she had brought back from the storage locker in L.A.

She hands it to the Israeli woman and she looks confused until she opens it.

"I thought it added a little more to the overall effect," there is a reason she has never worn the pearls with this particular outfit except for when at work.

"I'm sure it does," the younger agent says with a nod taking the string of pearls out of the box. Once Ziva has the pearls on Kate can tell that the façade that she had made for Ziva will actually work quite well.

"Thank you, Kate," the woman says and Kate is surprised by how much true sincerity is reflected in the Mossad Officer's dark orbs. She can tell that Ziva truly has a heart of gold underneath all of that Mossad training that had taught the woman to express as little emotion about anything as possible.

"Anytime," and she truly means it.

When they return to the squad room, Kate isn't shocked when both McGee and Tony give raised eyebrows about Ziva's attire.

"So what did you bake for the bake sale?" when Tony says this McGee chuckles too, but what surprises her is the fact that Gibbs lets a humored filled grin fill his features. Ziva looks slightly confused.

"A bake sale is where they sell baked goods and the reason that Tony so rudely asked is because often times they are for school fundraisers and they are often run by doting mothers."

"I know what bake sales are," they all nod not really believing her.

"Surveillance glasses," McGee says handing the woman a pair that are rather librarian like, but Kate has to say they go with the outfit.

Kate takes a deep breath and prays that this undercover op. goes smoothly especially since it is likely that whoever killed the Captain is at this meeting if it isn't Mrs. Donahue, though she knows for certain that woman is going to be there. She doesn't want to believe that because even though the call to church had confirmed her suspicions about Pam Donahue, she knows that woman's grief had been real. But she also knows that most of the time it is the wife that killed the husband.

_"Testing,"_ the woman says into the little microphone hidden on the inside of her sweater.

"We've got you loud and clear. Ziva. Picture is great," Kate is surprised by how many people are there. They had intended to have Ziva there ten minutes early to possibly get shots of all the participants before the meeting actually started, but between traffic and setting up the surveillance van Ziva had only managed to arrive five minutes early and everyone seemed to be already seated in the activity center. There were four rows set up five in each side set up facing a stage with a podium. Kate along with McGee and Tony were watching the video feed from the van a little less than a block away. Gibbs was matched into the audio sitting in the charger a block away from the church in the other direction.

They all watched with interest as the leader of the group got up and made an opening speech inviting any newcomers to get a welcome chip before sharing his story. A few people got up and shared their stories and the events in their lives since the last meeting McGee ran facial recognition on them and found that none of them had anything to do with their case. Ziva continued to try to get shots of the people in the crowd other than those sharing, but it hadn't worked that well.

"The only way we are going to get a shot of all of the participants to run for facial recognition is for you to get up in front and share, Ziva," McGee says and Kate nods agreeing.

"We also need to be sure that Mrs. Donahue is there," Tony adds and Kate gives him a raised eyebrow because obviously the man is still stuck on it being the wife.

_"I don't know what to say,"_ Kate is surprised that the woman has no idea what to say, but she also knows that Narcotics Anonymous is something that and the whole sharing your personal details with a group of strangers is probably something that Ziva has never done.

"I have got you covered, Ziva, just repeat after me. I'm going to need you to cry can you do that?" Kate pieces together a story in her head and she knows it is a good one especially since she knows that Ziva can relate to.

_"I can,"_ the other woman says without any hint of emotion.

"This could be hard for her, showing emotion isn't one of Ziva's strong suits," Kate gives him a warning look.

"Kate, head slap, DiNozzo," she gives a smirk.

"Sure thing, Gibbs," she brings her left arm back and hits man in the back of the head like she has seen Gibbs do so many times.

"I should head slap your right back," Kate gives him a look warning him to not even try attempt it.

"Ready, Ziva?" instead of answering verbally the woman nods which shakes the picture up in down as the woman ascends the steps onto the stage.

"Hello, I am Natalie," Kate is unsurprised when the woman says this she still has a slight accent.

"Ready to follow me word for word?" once again the camera shakes and Kate can tell the woman understands what she has to do.

_"Hi, Natalie,"_ everybody responds and Kate can tell that Ziva is nervous as she clears her throat. Though Kate knows it is

"I am… sorry this is hard for, I have never done this before. I have never shared my feelings to anyone let alone a room of complete strangers. I took my last dilaudid 2 hours ago and I don't know if I will be able to make it through the night without popping a few more. I feel like it is truly the only thing that is keeping me from going completely insane. One of the many reasons being that in my family growing up we never talked about our problems it was ingrained into us that if you showed any sign of emotion or it would be seen as weakness and we would get physically punished for it. I'm sorry… this harder than I thought. I need you to cry now Ziva and take a long moment before continuing," the woman continues to repeat her words verbatim and she even manages to shed rather convincing tears.

"Scanning the first row of participants through facial recognition, now. Already have the second row of faces on standby. It is going to take a few minutes to ID all of them, but we will get it done," McGee says and Kate knows that Ziva understands hat she is saying.

"They are all clean and besides a few drug arrests, none have any connection to McLaughlin & Associates, the Navy, or the Donahues," McGee says and Kate looks at the screen in front of Tim and notes that they don't even have any secondary connection other than going to this particular meeting.

"But I know that I need to continue or else I wouldn't ever get it out. I had been so shut off from my emotions for so long I was shocked that I was even able to find someone to love. He helped me come out of my shell and I learned that expressing my emotions wasn't a bad thing. We eventually married and everything was going so well, but then things just took a downturn just when I thought things were looking up. Things have just gotten too much for me in the last few years."

"Scanning second row through the database now."

"Mrs. Donahue is in the middle of the second row,"

"There, right there, zoom in McGee that's Anderson the president of McLaughlin & Associates. Third row on the right end. He may be in disguise, but that is him,"

"Good eye, Kate" she gives McGee a nod of thanks.

"Is that enough of a connection to McLaughlin &Associates for you, boss?"

_"Yeah, DiNozzo,"_ Gibbs grumbles out.

"Running facial recognition to confirm," and Kate watches as the ID comes up within seconds because McGee has it cross-referenced with the list of employees at the financial firm.

She continues on with her story as Ziva finishes repeating what she had just said, "My husband and I had just started to finally figure out our lives and were going to start a family. I even was able to get pregnant after a few months of trying. The pregnancy was going so well, but there was a complication late in my pregnancy and my baby… my little girl died before I could even hold her. She never even got to take her first breath or feel the love that I had for her. After that there were days were I could barely get out of bed for weeks and eventually the pain it just got to be so much that I need something to dull it even if it was just for a little while . Even after I got use to the fact that my little girl was gone. I mean I never got over it or stopped thing about it, but I had come to accept it. I just couldn't stop with pills and eventually it was as if they were the only thing keeping me grounded. Little did I realize that I was spiraling out of control till it was too late. I had prescriptions for high levels of Dilaudid from four different doctors. It wasn't until I went out yesterday to the store that I realized how bad I let it get. I was too hyped on the pain pills to realize how erratically I was driving by the time I realized it I had hit a pole. I totaled my car and I didn't even care, all I cared about was getting more Dilaudid. I realized in that instant that I had hit rock bottom and I needed help. So I am here today to look for that help because I'm an addict."

"It's not exactly an Oscar winning performance, but the screenwriter could get a bid for an award," Kate gives Tony an annoyed look, but she can't help, but feel a little satisfaction that he thought her words were convincing.

"Where did you come up with that, Kate? It was amazing," she just shrugs at McGee question.

"Thank you for sharing, Natalie. That was very brave especially on your first time here," Kate glances at Tony in surprise as the three of them watch Ziva get hugged by the group leader and Ziva obviously stiffens and does not return the hug.

"I played the role of a drugged up upper middle class wife before while in L.A.," Kate notices how impressed both the men in the surveillance van look at hearing this.

_"Do you want me to take Anderson into custody, right now, Gibbs?"_

_"No let's wait and see what he does,"_ Kate gives a sigh and watches the events unfold for a few more minutes.

The meeting continues on for ten minutes and Kate is surprised when neither Donahue or Anderson get up to add anything. Kate is especially surprised the woman doesn't get up especially after losing her husband, she assumed the woman would have been pushed rather close to the edge and she would need to seek solace in her peers.

_"Ziva, run interference until we can intercept him,"_ Gibbs barks out as everyone beings to get up and mill around as they begin to leave.

"Ask him about being your sponsor, Ziva," Kate says hoping that even though Ziva doesn't know exactly what that is she will do it.

_"I got it."_

"Moving in boss," Tony says all three of them climb out of the back of the truck and take off towards the church getting there in thirty seconds.

_"Hi, I noticed you didn't get up to talk and I was wondering if you could share any insights into how to get through the next few days. I was wondering if you could possibly be my sponsor,"_ Ziva words are perfect.

_"I really have to go, but if you want someone to talk go talk to Paul. He has been clean and sober for over fifteen years and I know that he could set you with someone to talk to,_" Kate is surprised how polite that blow off is compared to the one had had give she and Tony the other day. When she finishes she catches sight of Gibbs running towards them.

_"He is headed towards Pam and they are obviously familiar with each other,"_ Ziva says as all four of them climb the stone steps into the church.

_"He said something shocking and then walked away. He is headed in your direction right now."_

As the four of them burst through the church doors and glance around at the old gothic church.

"We need to split up there are a variety of exits he could take," McGee says and they nod.

"DiNozzo, Todd go," Gibbs motions for them to go to the right while he and McGee take the left.

They navigate the church and finally find their way to the activity center. As they walk calmly into the room they are surprised by how many people had already dispersed.

"Over there," Kate whispers to Tony shifting her head to the other side of the room where Anderson is getting ready to leave.

As they close the distance to the man he turns and sees them and takes off running before than can even say anything. Kate glances towards Ziva and motions with their head for her to follow. The each withdraw their guns ready for anything. Everyone begins to murmur in fright moving out of the way.

"It's alright, Federal Agent," Kate says pulling her badge and raising it for the meeting participants to see.

He exits through another set of double doors heading the other direction and Kate and Tony with Ziva hot on their heels take off after the suspect.

"Boss, he took the other entrance out he is heading for the back of the church," Tony screams out as they start to gain on the man. He some how breaks away and bursts through a door in the hallway and Kate wonders where that leads. The three of them get to the door and quickly assess the situation before entering another hallway. The three of them form a triangle as they begin to walk at a fast pace trying to open all the doors which are locked.

"He didn't have enough to time to jimmy open and of these locks," Ziva concludes as they reach the end of the hallway and turn to the right.

"He just went for the exit," Tony says pointing to the sign twenty feet away. They all nods pick up their pace again as they clear the exit and they catch sight of Anderson now calmly walking away.

Kate looks shocked when instead of running down the few steps Tony vaults himself over the side and lands a few feet behind the man.

"Stop, right there!" Tony orders and the man almost looks like he is going to pause, but when the man turns he sees the gun and he readies himself for the shots to come, but the man doesn't fire and Tony knows he should be prepared for anything.

"I believe the man said stop!" Tony notices that the investment firm's president now looks even more shocked when Ziva appears as she walks down the stairs with her gun pointed at the man who has just fled from the three of them. Kate is also on the stairs ready to take aim.

The man looks like he thinks about continuing to run for a moment, but then raises his hands in the air after dropping the gun in his hand. Tony closes the distance fist securing the pistol and the man's hands.

"Suspect secured," Tony says into his mic. for the benefit of Gibbs and McGee.

"Good job, DiNozzo," Tony hears this both through his headset and in person as Gibbs and McGee appear in the open doorway at the back of the church.

"Why thank you, boss," Tony knows not to add anymore in fear of his boss's compliment being replaced by a slap to the head.

Ziva turns and looks at the two of them as the five of them begin to lead the man around the block to the front of the church, "Out of curiosity what does hitting rock bottom mean it sounds very painful?" Tony turns and looks at Kate and the woman just chuckles.

"Kate, go get Mrs. Donahue and escort her back to NCIS for another interview," Tony watches Kate nod and turn and climb the steps back into the church.

Kate sets the tea down in front of the woman and the woman gives her a soft smile and a nod of thanks even though she doesn't touch it.

"Why didn't you just tell us that you knew James Anderson?" she lets this out in an easy tone because the last thing she wants is to make it sound like she is accusing the woman of anything,

"Because it would have brought up too many questions about how and quite honestly I had no idea— and I mean no idea that he would do this," Kate sucks in a heavy breath

"He was in love with you for years and he saw how your husband being gone ate at your spirit even after you gave up the drugs," the woman lets out a pained sob and Kate can see the realization dawn on the woman's face.

"We helped each other through so much… I never thought that he…felt that way about me. I guess I was just to blind to it because I loved my husband and James was one of the only things that held me up for such a long time."

"It's alright you didn't know," Kate reaches across the table to grasp the woman hand in a gentle squeeze and when she does she can tell that it helps ease the woman's pain even if it is a miniscule amount.

"I have one question," the woman nods and gives a sigh leaning back in her chair the tears still running unchecked down her cheeks.

"If you were each other's sponsors how did we not find any links between the two of you in the form of phone calls or e-mails?"

"Because… I think we were both were too worried about appearances. I was worried about it looking like an affair and he was worried about someone at the firm getting wind of it and realizing that he was a recovering addict. We only ever talked before and after the meetings and for me that was enough. I could go back to my normal life the best I could during the week," Kate nods and honestly she is not surprised about this considering the only thing that they found that gave any link to the Narcotic Addict's support group was a date and time on a pamphlet for a church.

Tony looks at the man intently waiting for him to speak. He knows the man is stalling for his lawyer, but now that they have all of the facts and the piece of evidence that never made sense finally fits he knows they have him dead to rights. All they really need is a confession.

He gulps ready to speak when the voice from behind him fills the room with a tone of firmness that Tony has never associated Kate Todd. "Mr. Anderson, we know how you did it and why. Do you have anything to say about it?"

"You have nothing," the man eyes narrow and his mouth spreads into a smirk that makes Tony want to roll his eyes because this man is so egotistical just because in the past he has made many people a lot of money including himself.

"Actually we have a lot," Tony gives a stern nod and Tony can see his fellow senior field agent as she pushes herself off the wall next to the two way mirror and crosses her arms posturing herself to seem cold, but from what he knows about Kate and her interrogation style she is going to go on the offensive at the moment the man least expects it because Kate plays understanding and caring so well. Her being the offensive completely right now is interesting to him.

"I'm guesstimating that you have been an addict for well over twenty years, you probably started, oxy just after you started at your first job to relief the stress of your first big job. It was a lot easier to get back then, cheaper too. How am I doing so far?" when man gives a grunt Tony exchanges a glance with Kate and she gives a nod indicating that she knows she is on the right track.

"And I'm guessing that you met Pam Donahue there about a year after you got sober which was about seven years ago and you have stayed clean because of her, but you also grew to rely on her and I think before you knew it you were in love with her and you couldn't do anything about it." The man gives Kate a look that says they don't have anything even if it is possible what she is saying is true.

"We found the plastic tie in your trash, it has your finger prints and Captain Donahue's DNA where you chocked the life out of him," Tony pulls the evidence bag from the box next to his chair and sets it on the table in front of the man.

"How did you do it?" he asks giving Kate a nod as he goes into his offensive style of interrogating.

"Did you wait until Captain Donahue was alone on his way out of the gym when you attacked him?" Tony notices a smirk fill the man's lips.

"He was probably about to get into his car, he didn't even see it coming. You were smart instead of using a gun or even a knife that could be traced to you used something commonplace, the tie off of one of the trees. One question how did you know it wouldn't break around his neck?"

When the man doesn't respond Tony can tell that they are getting to him even if he is remaining silent because he is waiting for his lawyer.

"If you didn't want it to be connected back to you why did you hang him from out of the window at your firm?" Tony notices the change in the man's expression and he can tell they had worn the man down.

"Because after what he had done to Pam for all those years ignoring her and choosing the Navy over he deserved to suffer even in death. He needed to be put on display for everybody to see," Tony glances over at Kate surprised that the man who had barely said a word since being sat down in the interrogation room.

Tony glances back at the observation glass and he gives a nod indicating to Gibbs and the rest of the team that is probably the best they are going to get as far as a confession. Tony turns to his left and looks at Kate and she nods to.

"Hey do you want get a drink, maybe celebrate your first case back?"

"Tony, that is almost sweet, if didn't think you were just hoping to get me drunk in revenge for this afternoon?" Tony chuckles because honestly she isn't that far off. He was hoping to get a few drinks in her to see if she is more receptive to his advances than she was two years ago.

"Come on, just one drink and I even promise to not to hit on any woman in the bar," this makes the woman outright laugh because she doesn't believe him. He knows he probably shouldn't promise that because he wants to hit on her.

"Nice try, Tony, but I have to unpack most of the boxes from L.A. and London have arrived and I need to get the ones that are in crates out of the evidence garage?"

"Crates?" Kate just shrugs and walks the few feet to her desk where she picks up her backpack and purse before opening her desk and pulling out her Sig.

"Have fun hitting on graduate students, DiNozzo," she says before giving a wave as she passes by him.

"Hitting on graduate students, huh," Tony shakes his head and settles back in his chair and he gives chuckle at the comment as he watches Kate wait for elevator to head down to the evidence garage. At least the woman didn't say unsuspecting undergraduates.

He waits a few minutes before getting up and grabbing his things and turning off the desk lamp. He decides to see what Kate has in those crates.

When he walks out of the elevator he is surprised to see how quiet it is, but he sees Kate out of the corner of his eye with a crow bar opening a wooden crate. He decides instead not to announce himself instead to just simply watch her for a few moments. She almost looks at ease as she gets to work getting out the contents of the box. He isn't surprised when it turns out to be art. He quickly sneaks away and heads towards the door that leads towards Abby's lab and the stairs.

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**The next chapter after this will be directly from the show! Thanks for reading!**


	7. The Ex-File

**Author's Note: **This is my first chapter using the actually show as a template. Most of the lines are directly from the show, but there are some extra and it jumps around to scenes that mainly have Tony or the entire team in them or places where I can add Kate in. These and a few others are mostly filler chapters to denote the passage of time. I haven't given up on this story I have just been distracted by school, but most of the major chapters after this are finished. I just need to finish a major lead in chapter and I can post like six or seven chapters and the story will really move forward!

* * *

Spoilers 5x03 "The Ex-File"

Kate chuckles as Ziva appears around the corner obviously rocking out to her music and she gives Gibbs a guilty look as he mouths good morning.

"Good morning," the woman gives him a smile.

"Good morning, Gibbs," Ziva adds to him.

Kate sends her a nod of morning which Ziva returns as Abby appears around the corner heading straight towards Gibbs.

"Did you get it?" Abby's enthusiasm makes her smile.

"It?" Kate can tell Gibbs doesn't know she is talking about the ipod.

"Abby?" Gibbs annoyance is evident.

"I put this year's tax refund to good use," Kate loves Abby's spirit, but buying all of the Ipods is ridiculous even though she loves hers.

"I got one for everyone on Team Gibbs," Gibbs confusion is funny.

"Luck be a lady tonight," Tony voice booms over the quiet squad room and Kate chuckles.

"Luck if you've ever been a lady to begin with. Luck be a…Hey, boss," the man's eyes widen as he realizes that everyone has heard and seen him.

"Sorry about that. Sinatra— you got to sing along, I mean, it's old Blue Eyes. It's the Chairman of the Board. I'm gonna Rat Pack it up," Kate can't help the chuckle that rises to her lips as Tony says this.

"Have you used yours, Kate?" the Goth turns towards her with a hopefully smile.

"Yeah I did on my run this morning thanks so much, Abbs. It made my six mile run a lot more enjoyable. I got to rock out," her best friend sends her a bright smile, Kate notices the expression Tony gives and she has a sneaking suspicion the man is remembering the case where he snuck into the bathroom while she was in the shower and she had been singing Outrageous by Britney Spears.

"Wouldn't happen to be Britney, would it?" the man says with a wink and Ziva and Abby looks at her with smirks on their features.

"No," she gives him an icy glare and prays that he will never bring it up again because it was so embarrassing.

Kate eyes drift towards McGee who she can tell is listening intently to whatever is on his new Mp3 player.

"MIT lecture," the man stutters out look at his boss.

"Nothing I can't listen to on my own time," Gibbs nods thinking it is obvious.

"It's the newest version, Gibbs. It's 160 gigabytes. You could download like 40,000 songs," she is sure she doesn't even have close to 5,000 total right now and even though she needs to put more on the Mp3 player she had enough to last her typical forty minute run around the capital.

"I only listen to five, Abbs," Gibbs would only listen to five songs.

"5,000?" Kate can't help, but chuckle because she is sure Gibbs hasn't heard even more than fifty in his lifetime.

"No. Five."

"Oh, Gibbs. We really have to broaden your horizons," Gibbs doesn't like change so she doesn't think it is possible.

"I could download some of my music for you," Kate can tell that Gibbs isn't really listening.

"Gibbs." The phone rings and Gibbs turns away from Abby.

"Like Android Lust or Flesh-Eating Foundation, Green Satan, or Suicide Commando," she hasn't heard of any of them.

"Dead Marine," Kate perks up at this.

"Never heard of 'em," Kate loves Abby completely missing the point.

"Fort Belvoir Army base," Army base that's new.

"Let's go," They all quickly follow him to the elevator.

"Dead Marine," Tony adds as they get things ready for the crime scene.

"Army Base," Kate peers over Ziva's shoulder at Gibbs and Colonel Mann.

"Her rocks matches his scissors. Which puts the Colonel on top."

"Is she…?" McGee questions obviously not finding the right words.

"Still on top?" Kate raises her eyebrow at Tony and can't help, but think how gross that is.

"Seeing Gibbs?" that is a much more valid question.

"Same thing," Kate forces herself not to scoff.

"Really McGee, I could see it after two seconds," Kate chuckles looking between the two men and Ziva nods.

"But an excellent question nonetheless, Probie," Tony is right for once, not that she would ever tell him.

Kate gives a nod as she follows the team up the pathway into the house.

"Colonel allow me to introduce to you NCIS Special Caitlin Todd," she gives the woman a polite smile as can see the woman's confused expression because most likely Gibbs had the Colonel about her death at the hands of Ari.

"Kate meet Colonel Hollis Mann, Army CID," she offers her hand and the woman shakes it.

"Aren't you…suppose to be…?" Mann looks a little taken back as she speaks, but Kate can see her putting the pieces together.

"Dead? Yeah," the woman nods and Kate can see the raised eyebrow of barely veiled curiosity.

"Shepard?" Kate gives her a nod not surprised that the Army CID Colonel had put it together. Kate gives the woman a smile before heading to join the others where the body has been found.

"Marine Captain Trent Reynolds. Worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency on an inter-agency task force. His, uh, wife found him last night when she got back from a convention in Charlottesville," Mann adds finally joining them in the living room which is the crime scene.

"Where's the wife now?" Gibbs asks.

"Mother's house," Mann counters.

"How long has he been uh… stuck here?" McGee asks glancing at the body and the obvious penetrating metal that is stuck through his chest.

"Only the dead know the true meaning of patience, Timothy," Kate lets a smile graze her lips upon hearing Ducky say this as he enters the former Captain's home. "No more places to go, people to see. Except me, of course. Colonel, Jethro. So, uh… to whom do I report?" she sends him a smile over her shoulder as she sets to work collecting evidence along with Tony and Ziva.

"Her," Gibbs says and Kate can hear the slight annoyance in his voice.

"Me," Mann is definitely up for the challenge of leading them.

"Better get use to that," Kate holds in the chuckle that rises to her lips at hearing this and seeing the expression from the Mossad Officer.

"Spear guns. Pretty cool, Thunder ball, very James Bond…boss…ma'am…Colonel," Kate turns away to hide her eye roll, typical Tony making a fool of himself. She will admit she has missed even that about him and being able to laugh at him for it.

"Captain Reynolds was recreational diver," Mann adds as if it is common knowledge.

"Burglary?" Gibbs asks assertively.

"Well, the back door was jimmied, but the wallet and cash were still on him, and the wife doesn't think that anything's missing. Dr. Mallard, you got anything?" the only word that Kate can think right now is sexual tension.

"You do realize I arrived about a minute ago. The dead speak to me, Colonel, but give the poor man time to catch his breath, so to speak. Time of death— between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.

"Yeah, Gibbs," Gibbs says flipping open his ringing phone.

"Tony, review the witness statements," Mann motions for him to go outside.

"Yes, boss… ma'am…uh, Colonel," Tony stumbling over his words makes her heart warm a little as he salutes the Colonel.

"Ziva…" She can tell the woman already has something in mind for herself.

"I will check Captain Reynolds' phone and bank records," Ziva is quick on uptake.

"Agent McGee, see if you can pull some prints off the back door," Mann says and McGee quickly walks past her.

"Yes ma'am," McGee is nice enough to have manners.

"Agent Todd start to dust for prints in the general area surrounding the crime scene."

"Right away, ma'am and Kate is fine."

"Noted."

"Do you know a Major Sweigart?" Mann asks Gibbs and she can tell the woman has peeked his interest.

Tony glances forward waiting for the elevator to get to the squad room, "Crash and burn… only a matter of time."

"What?" Ziva is obviously confused.

"DiNozzo, is probably yammering on about something not important," Kate's jab makes a chuckle rise from the Israeli's woman's lips as they both turn to look at him.

"Not a what—a whom. Colonel Mann, Gibbs, Army-Navy joint operation," he doesn't think it will last that long because Gibbs goes through wives like Abby goes through Cafe-Pows.

"It could last a lifetime," Tony is shocked by this statement.

"She's not exactly a red head," this makes Tony chuckle because Kate makes a very good point and it's funny that she is as pessimistic regarding this as he is and Ziva is the one who is being optimistic and is choosing to show her romantic side.

"Behind the torture techniques and the contract killings, Ziva, you're really just a…" he can't say it because the word doesn't quite fit the Mossad officer.

"A whom?" Tony glances to his left at the darker brunette.

"What? Whom?" Ziva has a way of confusing him because of her word choice.

"Not a whom… it's more… it's a what," he chuckles and he catches a glint of humor in Kate's hazel eyes over Ziva's shoulder.

"What then?" he weighs the word he could choose in his mind.

"I'm still just a what?" Tony catches the annoyance in the Middle Eastern woman's voice. Tony catches Kate's expression of jubilance as she watches he and Ziva engage in a very strange conversation.

"What Tony is festering with is trying to call you a girl," Tony turns and notices the guy behind them as he gulps because Kate has cut him off and obviously stolen the answer from the man. Ziva gives a chuckle before sending a smile to Kate as the two of them head to their separate desks.

"Abby Sciuto. I was sent here to check in so I could see her," this guy looks a little dorky and a little nervous.

"Probie," he knows he can't tell Kate what to do anymore and besides computer geeks are totally McGee's specialty.

"Fred Rinnert, DIA. That's Defense Intelligence Agency. I was sent here to keep track of a laptop of ours."

"Laptop is down in the lab," Tony chuckles as McGee continues to size the DIA employee up.

"I'm here to make sure Ms. Sciuto doesn't uncover any super-duper, secret spook stuff," Tony gives a raised eyebrow at the man's word choice.

"Super-duper?" Tony looks over at Kate as she lets out a chuckle with a raised eyebrow and he can tell that the woman is wondering why any man above the age of 20 who is straight would say that.

"What time did Major Sweigart arrive at your apartment?" Mann asks walking towards Stephanie Flynn.

"Uh… about 6:30," the woman is playing with her red hair.

"And leave about ten," Tony can see the two sizing each other up.

"Where's Gibbs? I know you know he is my ex," the woman obviously wants to talk to his boss for some reason. Though Tony would bet that like Gibbs other marriages this one didn't end well.

"He's busy," Tony doesn't even himself buy that for a second.

"Something's never change," the boss is always busy 24/7; sometimes Tony wonders if he ever sleeps in between solving cases and building his boat in his basement.

"Who do you thinks prettier? Ex-wife number three or future ex-wife number four?" he asks to the two women who are with him in the observation room. He knows he is in for it when Kate gives him a look that screams 'really?'

"Colonel Mann is at a disadvantage because of her uniform," Tony has to agree with Ziva.

"Tell me you are not trying to imagine her without her uniform, Tony?" he gives a smirk and both women give him disgusted looks and Tony wonders why Ziva would even ask that.

"Gross, Tony, she is your boss," Tony turns to his right and glances back at the other Agent in the observation room.

"Temporarily," he gives her a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Even though he is utterly in love with Kate he can't help himself because he is still a guy and they often encounter many beautiful women.

"Not that it would stop you anyway," Tony hears this even though it is under her breath and Tony feels bad when he hears the annoyance in her words and he wants to recant everything because he only says stuff like that to get a reaction and he didn't want her to feel hurt.

"How long have you known Agent Gibbs— Major Sweigart?" Mann asserts even though she corrects herself. Tony wonders if the woman could be any more obvious about wanting to know more about Gibbs and Stephanie's past relationship.

"Eight months. Known Gibbs longer," Stephanie Flynn is obviously not having it.

"Wedding bells?"Tony wonders why Mann goes to this, but he guesses she is trying to gage how she feels about the Major.

"I know how this works. You're implying because I love Eric, I'm lying for him," Tony gulps thinking that is actually a good thing to say as someone who was once married to Gibbs.

"Are you?" Mann is definitely playing strong offense.

"He's, he's watching, isn't he?" the red-headed woman starts to get up from her chair and come to the glass.

"If you're going to have me interrogated, Jethro, at least do it yourself," the woman's anger is obvious.

"Come on. You never could talk to me, could you? Well, that was then, this is now, so just… get the hell in here!" wow, now Tony knows for sure that Gibbs was a bad husband.

"Feisty. In an attractive kind of way. Got zip at Fort Belvoir, boss," Tony tries to hold in his horrified expression at catching sight of Gibbs in the reflection of the two sided mirror. He hears the slight chuckle and glances at Kate who has made her way to Ziva's side.

"Captain Reynolds got along with everyone," Ziva adds quickly.

"No one heard a thing last night," Tony says and he can tell that it is about to get ugly quickly.

"No one could tell me anything about Captain Reynolds personal life beyond that he loved his wife," Kate adds glancing over at Gibbs with a calm expression.

"I'm gonna go check those phone records," Tony quickly fires out knowing it is probably best to get away from his boss when he goes to talk to his ex-wife in the presence of the Army CID Colonel.

"I am going to help him," Tony can hear the desperation in Ziva's voice as the three of them quickly try to find something that will give them an excuse to scurry away.

"And I am going to go check in with Abby," Tony turns to look back at Kate as they walk out of the observation room and she follows the two of them to the squad room.

"What, Ziva stole what I was going to say," the hazel eyed brunette laughs walking past him to her desk.

"Uh, checked Reynolds' phone records, boss. Colonel, uh, ma'am… uh, I drew a blank," Tony fires off and he wonders why he keeps stumbling over his words.

"So we checked Major Sweigart's phone records. Ten calls in the last three days to the same person… a woman," Ziva adds.

"Stephanie?" Gibbs questions obviously hoping that is the answer.

"No. Jill, Captain Reynolds' wife," Tony lets out a heavy hearted sigh saying this and Kate also crosses her arms waiting for one of the bosses to say something.

"The husband, the wife and the lover. All the trademarks of a classic love triangle," Mann says staring at the plasma.

"You forgot the lover's lover, which would make it technically, I think a lovers quadrangle," Tony adds clarifying the fact that the Major is still with Stephanie.

"Or it could be a ring," Tony is very confused by that statement.

"It's a square," Kate adds and Tony turns back the brunette with a humored expression knowing she is joking because that would mean that there is relations between all members involved.

"Abby uncovered suspicious activity on the victim's laptop. And since Captain Reynolds had access to highly classified defense secrets, we cannot rule out a spy ring," Tony looks between the team as Ziva says this and he sees Kate nod agreeing with Ziva's assessment.

"There are many other countries that would pay top dollar to get any of the information on that laptop even our allies especially if it helped them gather enough intel. to take some power away from the U.S.," Tony look back at Kate a little horrified that she is with Ziva on this one.

"And we know that Major Sweigart was with your ex… with, uh… Stephanie Flynn," McGee stumbles on his words as he says this.

"And Mrs. Reynolds was at a pharmaceutical convention in Charlottesville," Tony says this and mouths 'don't say that'. (That was the closest I could guess with that even after watching it a few times).

"Charlottesville." Mann asserts.

"Yes, Charlottesville. Great minds think alike. McGee," Tony says trying to impress Colonel and gets McGee attention.

"Fort Belvoir where Reynolds died, is here. 104 miles," McGee brings up a map on the plasma.

"Two hour drive," Tony states simply.

"Close enough for Jill Reynolds to drive home, kill her husband, drive back to Charlottesville, and fly home again to discover him dead with a witness present," McGee adds and Tony gives him a nod.

"That does not mean she did it," Ziva adds quickly.

"It doesn't mean she didn't do it," Gibbs says finally entering the conversation.

"Motive?" Mann asks looking at Gibbs.

"DiNozzo, check…" Gibbs fires off and Tony cuts him off knowing exactly what Gibbs is thinking.

"Life insurance. Did it 400 grand from the military another quarter mill from a private carrier, beneficiary: Jill Reynolds," sounds like a perfect motive to him if there ever was one.

"The crime scene just became our prime suspect's house," Gibbs says get up from leaning on his desk.

"Get a warrant," Mann adds.

"Mrs. Reynolds? Well bring her in," Ziva fires off and Gibbs nods.

"I'll dig up more on Jill Reynolds past financial history to see if there is a reason that she needs the money beside wanting it for the future, maybe she has debts that need to be paid off before she lives her life in luxury," Kate says returning to her desk as he grabs his pack and he and Ziva head for the elevator he gives her one last look as she sits down behind her desk and sets to work on her task.

"Whoa. Excuse us there. NCIS," Tony adds as the man quickly exits the house.

"We are looking for Jill Reynolds," Ziva asks staring the officer in the face.

"She's in the back," the Army office adds.

"You a friend?" Tony asks eyeing the man suspiciously.

"Lieutenant Marsden. Command sent me out to go over Captain Reynolds' death benefits with her," there is something about him that is different, but Tony can't put his finger on it.

"Quite the waterfall," Tony still is amazed at how often Ziva still makes mistakes.

"She means windfall," Tony quickly corrects.

"If you think money compensates for the loss of a love one," the Lieutenant is obviously in a hurry for some reason.

"No. No, I'm sure it doesn't," Tony eyes him still suspicious.

"Excuse me," the man walks past them without a second glance.

"NCIS. Mrs. Reynolds?" Tony says opening the front door a little wider.

"In here," the woman says as the walk through the house and they enter the living room and what they see is a little disturbing.

"Cleaning is kind of therapeutic for me," Tony tries not to raise his eyebrow at the fact that their now prime suspect is cleaning up the evidence.

"She's got something to hide. Why else would she clean so thoroughly?" Ziva adds as they get off the back elevator.

"Uh-oh. Oh. Train wreck. I want to look away, but I can't, I feel bad for Kate who is right there," Tony adds to Ziva.

"Agent Gibbs?" Shepard is obviously annoyed and honestly sometimes he wonders if she isn't marking Gibbs are her territory.

"Director," his words are laced with something else.

"Colonel, I was just reassuring Gibbs'… your witness that Agent Gibbs could separate the personal aspects of this investigation," the Director tilts her head.

"Well, I'll monitor him, closely, Director," Tony can't help, but think that is the wrong thing to say.

"I'm sure you will," it is now a pissing contest between the Director and Colonel Mann.

"Is that the look you're talking about?" Stephanie asks and he can see all of them eyeing Gibbs.

"Hmm. Yup, we've all seen that one," Mann adds with a glare.

"Well, Miss Flynn was just leaving, unless you need her for something," the director glances between the two agents in charge.

"No, no. She can go home," it is clear the Gibbs wants her to go away.

"Uh… for now," Mann adds as an almost afterthought.

"You find anything DiNozzo?" Gibbs asks as he walks towards them and Kate gets up from her desk in the squad room to follow the three of them. Walking past Gibbs' three women to follow her boss. Colonel Mann also follows without looking back and Tony can see the Director and Flynn watching them leave.

"I bet you've never been happy to see me, boss. Uh, it was clean," Tony says this remembering the way the woman had been vigorously cleaning.

"Spotless," Ziva adds.

"She's like that professional cleaner in _Pulp Fiction_," that is a great movie.

"We found a partial print in the kitchen near the office," Ziva says.

"Yeah. Run it," Gibbs states,

"Yeah. Well, I mean with only, like a squiggle on a little loop. We don't even know which finger," Tony adds trying to emphasize how difficult it will be to find a map.

"Only ten possibilities, DiNozzo," he knows there are ten fingers.

"Well, no. There's one point, there's ten fingers. You know, that's thousands of…" Gibbs stops his thought with a glare.

"On it," Tony asserts.

"Train wreck," this makes both the women laugh.

"Wait, you mean you back there?" Kate asks laughing along with Ziva and Tony once again realizes how bad this is for his health having to deal with both her and Ziva poking constant fun at him.

"There may be thousands of matches, but we just need one off our suspect list to at least having some starting point," Kate adds as the three of them head towards the squad room.

"I've been watching the footage of ATMs surrounding the pharmaceutical convention in Charlottesville on the day Captain Reynolds died. As you can see, it's time stamped," McGee says from his desk.

"Check out the brunette," Tony flickers his eyes and notices the discreet eye roll Kate gives before turning to look back at McGee waiting for him to continue.

"No. In the background rounding the corner. Wait for it. There!" McGee says all of this typing away to enhance and run the video feed to the exact frame.

"Jill Reynolds. 8:05," Gibbs says.

"Can't be two places at once," McGee says.

"She's clean… in more ways than one," Tony can't believe the Colonel says that.

"Maybe she hired a contract killer," Ziva states.

"For 650,000? She is a Marine wife and a pharmaceutical rep she isn't likely to even know where to look," Kate quickly adds.

"What about the partial prints in Reynolds' kitchen?" Mann asks glancing towards Tony and Kate notices him point towards McGee.

"Came up with 80,000 potential hits. I know. Trying to narrow it down to people who might have had access to the army base," McGee says obviously frustrated.

"Have we given up on Major Sweigart?" Tony asks.

"He has an alibi," Ziva fires off.

"From someone who thinks he's her future husband," Mann says.

"Stephanie wouldn't lie," Gibbs belief in that baffles Kate a little.

"Are you sure?" Kate can see the fight starting to unfold right in front of her eyes even if it's through just glances.

"Well, I'm not. I mean, she finds out that her boyfriend was having an affair with her best friend, she might just change her story. Bring her in for another interview," Mann is angry now and it is showing in her words.

"Wait," Gibbs spits out.

"I said bring her in," Mann's eyes fall between Tony and Kate and she gets up and grabs her gear and joins Tony at the edge of the squad room.

"And I said wait," Gibbs rumbles.

"This never turns out well for the kids," Kate glares at Tony, but nods.

"Can you be objective here? Because if you can't you're no good to me. If this wasn't your ex, what would your gut be saying right now? It would be saying bring her in and break her. Maybe she's lying to protect her boyfriend. Maybe it's worse. What if Stephanie knew about the affair?" the woman obviously means in their relationship.

"She'd walk," Kate eyes narrow as Mann gives an incredulous scoff.

"Okay, then, let's talk about motive. Maybe she wants to frame Jill for being the bitch who stole her boyfriend. Or maybe Major Sweigart for cheating on her," Kate can't help, but raise her eyebrow at the phrasing Mann uses to list off the first motive.

"You don't know Stephanie," Kate can't help, but wonder if the man does because from what she had heard in the past he wasn't always a very good husband.

"But I do know my job," it is clear that there are more than a few underlying issues.

"DiNozzo?" Mann asks.

"Here I am, boss," Kate can't help, but roll her eyes because that doesn't need to be clarified.

"Call her," the man nods.

"Tell her to come in. I need to talk with her," Kate quickly returns to her desk as Tony scurries to please Mann like a crazio because he is scared of the silver haired man.

"Voicemail. Same thing. This is Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo of NCIS for Stephanie Flynn," Kate along with the rest of the team watches with interest as Tony dials a few numbers and finally after a few rings someone answers the phone.

"As of when?" Tony's slight bit of alarm makes her glance over.

He says a moment later, "Thank you."

"Uh, Stephanie quit her job this morning," Tony says.

"Try her again," Gibbs orders obviously hoping to find his ex-wife so they can clear her of the crime.

"I'm here," Kate smiles because the woman obviously assumed they were trying to call her.

"Abby…" Gibbs says as the woman slides to a stop next to him clutching a piece of paper.

"Wait! Selenium, uranium, gallium, phosphorus, potassium, polonium, curium, and sodium. It's the song, Gibbs! There was a program on Captain Reynolds laptop that highlighted these elements the periodic table ahs a number associated with each one. I think the numbers mean something, I just don't know what yet. Like 34 could three-four… 92 could be nine-two," Abby says having finally figured out the song on

"Could be a GPS coordinate," Mann adds coming over

"Or a bank account," Gibbs says.

"I just need to know how you knew that I found something," Kate chuckles at the fact that Abby still thinks Gibbs has some mystical way of knowing when she has found something.

"I didn't, Abby," Kate watches the two of them.

"Stephanie's still not answering," Tony adds.

"Well, why did you call me?" Abby and Kate is curious because she doesn't remember Gibbs even picking up the phone or having any of the other team members calling Abby within in the last few hours.

"I didn't," Kate's eyes narrow and she wonders what is going.

"Fred said you did," she knew there was something weird about the guy.

"Boss, guess who's one of the 80,000 hits from the crime scene fingerprints," of course it is the DIA cyber guy, the super-duper tipped her off that the guy was trying too hard, but she assumed it was because he had to deal with armed federal agents and the legend that is Abby Sciuto.

"Fred," Gibbs asserts annoyed.

"You guessed," McGee says.

"Where is he?" Gibbs directs towards Abbs.

"In my lab," Abby says.

"With evidence?" she can hear the worry in Gibbs' voice.

"With the laptop," Abby's obvious shock is evident.

"Find out what this means, McGee," Kate chuckles as Gibbs forces the paper into Tim's hands.

"Lieutenant Marsden just confirmed that our friend here volunteered to oversee Abby's work on the laptop," Kate follows in step with Ziva as the doors of the elevator doors slide open and Rinnert appears with Abby, Mann, and Gibbs at his heels.

"Why didn't you wipe the hard drive after you killed him?" Kate can tell that it makes the man nervous.

"Cause he didn't think anyone was smart enough to find the code until it was sent to me," Kate gives Abby a nod and catches up to her.

"I didn't kill anyone," Rinnert is not sounding very convincing.

"Either Reynolds wouldn't split the money with you or you got greedy," Mann asserts.

"Think of the slimiest thing and that's what he did!" Kate loves Abby's conviction.

"Come on, McGee!" Kate knows that McGee will find the bank information just in time.

"Hey, I know my rights," yeah and NCIS can hold him for 48 hours without cause especially since he had been with the evidence that Abby had obviously closed.

"Boss, I got it. Numbers are an offshore account in the names of both Captain Reynolds and Fred Rinnert. One half-million dollars transferred into the account from a bank in Beirut at 7:30 the night Reynolds died. It was cleaned out two hours later," McGee is perfect when they need.

"So it was greed, huh?" Gibbs whispers in the cyber guy's ear.

"DiNozzo," Mann orders. Not that Rinnert could get past Tony if he tried.

"My acting boss says you ain't going anywhere," when Tony pokes him in the chest she crosses her arms ready to stop if he tries heads for the stairs.

"What'd you sell and who'd you sell it to?" Gibbs demands.

"Maybe if you cut me a deal, I'll tell you," Rinnert is a slime ball.

"Abby," Kate smirks as Gibbs steps out of the way and Abby lunges forwards and hits the DIA cyber agent square in the nose and it knocks him off his feet.

"Sweet," Kate chuckles and pulls her cuffs from their holster and throws them to Tony who cuffs him easily as the weasel starts to get up.

"You stupid bitch I thought you were so hot the entire day and I thought just maybe you weren't as smart as you let on," as Rinnert lunges towards Abby against his now cuffed hands. Gibbs sends them each a raised eyebrow. And Kate quickly moves in front of black haired woman and stops him with a poke to his pressure point on the left side of his neck. The man almost goes limp against Tony and the agent just laughs.

"We do you think taught her to punch like that?" the man looks between all of them and Kate follows his gaze which first lands on Mann and then Ziva. Each have smirks on their faces. As does McGee's which Kate is sure has never left his face.

"Todd, DiNozzo take him to interrogation," Kate nods to Mann and steps out of the way so Tony can lead him to interrogation.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights I have just read to you?" Tony asks as they escort him to interrogation. The DIA agent gives a curt nod at this.

"Nice poke, Todd," Tony says with a gleam in her eyes and she just rolls her eyes with a laugh.

"You have seen nothing yet, DiNozzo," she throws him a wink and she is pretty sure she sees the look of unhinged lust in his eyes and she can't help the heat that it makes boil in her veins.

"Oh I'm sure I haven't, Agent Todd," he winks back and Rinnert glance between them with an almost horrified expression

"You know if the two of you are going to flirt through my entire interrogation could I at least get my lawyer," Kate rolls her eyes especially since they weren't flirting.

"Shut up," Tony says before she can get it out and when the woman shakes her head with smile she can tell that she and Tony are going to flirt even more than they did when she was first on the team.


End file.
